UCCS enrollment is largest-ever

Enrollment at UCCS exceeds 8,450 students this fall, a more than 6 percent increase both in headcount and student credit hours, the highest in the university's history.

Steve Ellis, interim associate vice chancellor, Student Success, announced preliminary numbers Sept. 10.

Enrollment for fall 2009 increased by 533 students to 8,464, a 6.3 percent increase from fall 2008. This is the largest enrollment at UCCS since its founding in 1965. Since 1999, UCCS enrollment increased by 1,764 students or 27 percent, making UCCS one of the fastest growing universities in the nation. Undergraduate enrollment increased by 291 students to 6,770, a 4.3 percent increase. Enrollment of graduate students increased by 264 students to 1,694, a 15.6 percent increase.

Student credit hours, a measure of the number of students and the number courses in which they are enrolled, increased from 91,691 last fall to 97,545 this year, a 6.7 percent increase.

“Students who want to reach higher in their lives are selecting the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs,” Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak said. “Our superior facilities, high-quality faculty, and programs that are in demand are attracting students who have ambition and goals.”

While continuing to analyze this year's enrollment data, Ellis believes the campus will enroll 1,097 freshmen. The campus enrolled a record number of transfer students, many from the state's two-year community colleges. In 2009, 826 transfer students enrolled, a 10 percent or 87 student increase, from last year. All six UCCS academic colleges posted enrollment increases.