Mississippi State officials announced Wednesday that attendance levels are setting all-time records across the board. According to an article on the MSU Web site, the university has recorded 17,039 overall students for the fall 2007 semester, the first time attendance has eclipsed the 17,000 mark.
This year’s enrollment exceeds last year’s by 800 students.
MSU also reported the largest ever incoming freshman class and the highest number of students enrolled in graduate and professional programs, numbering at 2,281 students and 3,831 respectively. Not to be outdone, MSU-Meridian also recorded 821 students, its highest enrollment.
Philip Bonfanti, director of the office of admissions and scholarships, said many areas of the university’s chain of command had a hand in bringing in new students.
“A lot of factors led to this increase,” he said. “It all began with [MSU President Robert] ‘Doc’ Foglesong making attendance a priority. Once he did that, it took everyone else getting on board, from the faculty who worked to develop programs to retain students to the recruiters who went out and visited college fairs. Even MSU’s alumni have helped to get the word out about our university by referring students and holding gatherings for those who were interested.”
The main reason behind this increase is the university itself, Bonfanti said.
“We can all get out there and talk about MSU, but it takes having a good product to back up all the talk,” he said. “We have that here at MSU. We believe that we have something unique to offer that no other university can provide.”
Not only does the university prepare students short-term with education and interactions between themselves and faculty, but it prepares them beyond the four years they are in school, Bonfanti said.
Higher enrollment rates will benefit both MSU and Mississippi, he said.
“Continued enrollment growth is good for the university, which in turn is good for Mississippi,” Bonfanti said. “Poverty and unemployment rates are directly related with a lack of education. The state has made education one of its top priorities, and the university is following suit. We’re a state institution and we’re here to help Mississippians.”
Vice president for student affairs Bill Kibler said MSU’s attendance increase can also be attributed to the university’s development over the past few years.
“Our new initiatives have created a lot of buzz,” he said. “Our new leadership programs, such as the Appalachian Leadership Honors Program, the Day One Initiative and the Young Guns Summer Leadership Camp have helped to draw a lot of interest. Our new residence halls, which are the best in the region, have also stirred up interest.”
Foglesong should also be given some of the credit for the enrollment increase, Kibler said.
“He has been extremely visible during his tenure,” he said. “He always has recruitment on his mind.”
Kibler said the administration will continue to reinvest in MSU.
“With every new student that enrolls at MSU, we have an opportunity to use their tuition to reinvest back into our school,” he said. “We’ll bring in more faculty positions and add additional classes to help us continue to offer a quality education for students.”
MSU can expect to see a continuing growth in attendance, Kibler said.
“We have very exciting and ambitious plans for recruiting activities for the next academic year that will surpass what we did for this year,” he said. “We will have more people on the ground doing the recruiting and more events planned. Our alumni will be even more engaged with interested students and our president will be just as visible as he’s been.”
Bonfanti said his office will continue to make steady growth a priority for the future.
Recruitment is already under way for the fall 2008 semester, and almost 2,000 applications have been received since the beginning of August, he said.
“You can tell by the amount of applications we’ve received and the correspondence we’re receiving by phone and e-mail that interest in our university is still growing,” he said.