Trine enrollment skyrockets

Exceeds all-time high

 

Aug. 16, 2010--More students than ever before have enrolled as Trine University students for the upcoming semester.

 

Trine will enroll over 2,075 students this fall, surpassing the record of 2,022 students set in fall 1968, said Vice President for Enrollment Management Scott Goplin. The figure represents a 7.7 percent total enrollment increase over the previous year.

 

Statistics from the Office of Admission underscore the upward trend. The main campus enrollment of 1,550, including a 410-member freshman class, represents a 5.7 percent increase over fall 2009, with full-time enrollment up 5.3 percent over last year.

 

This trend includes a 6.7 percent increase in resident students, 1,050 compared to last fall’s 984.  Nearly 80 percent of the residents will live in apartments and villas built within the last five years. “I am particularly excited that 65 percent of our freshmen will have the opportunity to reside in the university’s new apartments,” Goplin said.

 

Due in part to the availability of more than 150 online courses through the Trine Virtual Campus (TVC), new programs, two new campuses in Logansport and Columbus, Ind., and transfer credit for qualifying two-year Ivy Tech and Harrison College students, Trine’s School of Professional Studies enrollment stands at around 525 students, compared to 460 last year at this time.

 

According to The Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI) 2010 Fact Book, over the last five years Trine has become the fastest growing independent university among the state’s 31 ICI member institutions.

 

Academic excellence, a high quality faculty, new majors such as entrepreneurship, informatics, business administration and exercise science and nationally ranked NCAA football, softball and wrestling programs also strongly attract new students, Goplin said.

 

Students who enroll at Trine are more likely to stay, as well. “A key dynamic in our growth is greater freshman and sophomore retention and our transformation to a residential campus, which offers students a greatly enhanced experience outside of the classroom,” he said.

 

Trine also earns good marks for its competitive scholarship program and effort to meet students’ financial needs every year they attend, reflected in its U.S. News & World Report ranking among colleges and universities whose students graduate with the least debt. Trine will award up to $17 million in academic and need-based aid during the 2010-2011 academic year, said Trine Chief Financial Aid Administrator Kim Bennett.

 

The university has launched the silent phase two Vision for the Future capital campaign after completing its $90 million initial phase ahead of schedule last year. While the first phase contributed strongly to the enhancement of campus facilities and programs, the second phase will focus upon endowment for long-term security, capital expenditure to support classrooms and laboratories, scholarships and the university’s daily operations.

 

“We have planned carefully for the growth of our university, and the process we instituted is bearing fruit,” said Trine President Earl D. Brooks II. “We look forward to the opportunity to prepare this record-breaking number of Trine students to succeed, lead and serve.”