East Central University has a record enrollment this semester with 4,893 students, an increase of 6.3 percent over last fall.
"This is the highest enrollment in our history," said ECU President John Hargrave. "This is good news for the university and the Ada area and good news for these students. It means more students are taking advantage of earning a college degree."
The previous record was set in 2004 when 4,661 students enrolled for the fall semester.
In addition, total credit hours increased by 6.6 percent this semester.
"We attribute this increase to our efforts to retain students and to our recruiting and marketing efforts," Hargrave said. "Our biggest increase, 19.7 percent, came from undergraduate students who transferred to ECU from other schools."
While the number of beginning freshmen actually decreased by 11 students, concurrent students, or high school students enrolled in ECU classes, increased by 17 percent.
Dr. Duane C. Anderson, ECU provost and vice president for academic affairs, said the economy also played a part in the record enrollment.
"Our graduate enrollment continues to grow in response to the quality of our programs, our off-campus delivery and the new master's degree in accounting," Anderson said.
Hargrave said ECU's residence halls are full and that additional class sections were opened to accommodate the higher enrollment.
"We are delighted to have a record enrollment," Hargrave said. "We have a number of students from our surrounding area as well as from other states and countries. We believe ECU is a great choice because of our highly qualified, caring faculty and staff and our top-rated programs. We are excited about providing our students with a quality education."
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