FAYETTEVILLE -- Total enrollment nudged upward at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville while the number of undergraduate students declined by less than 1%, according to preliminary totals released Wednesday.
Despite the ongoing pandemic, UA enrolled 27,562 students this fall compared with 27,559 in fall 2019, an increase of three students, keeping the state's largest university from having two consecutive years of declines. Enrollment last fall dipped by less than 1%, from 27,778 students in fall 2018, in the first decline at UA since the 1990s.
The fall total includes students in online-only programs, but that number wasn't available Wednesday, said Suzanne McCray, UA's top enrollment official.
"Flat in the time of covid is really good news," interim Provost Charles Robinson said Wednesday in a meeting of the university's faculty senate. "We were able to have an enrollment that maintains our student body."
For fall 2020, UA has also reversed a trend of declining freshman classes that began in 2018.
The preliminary totals, as of the 11th day of classes, show UA with 4,725 first-time college students seeking degrees. That's a 2.7% increase compared with fall 2019's incoming freshman class of 4,601 students.
Some other large public universities did not yet have preliminary enrollment totals on Wednesday, including Arkansas State University and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
McCray said there was volatility given concern over the pandemic.
"We owe our higher new freshman numbers to a very strong application year, to recruiters who pivoted quickly in the spring to recruit in an online environment, and to advisors who connected individually with all our incoming students," McCray said, adding that the overall number "reflects great work in a variety of areas," including effort by various units at the university.
Chancellor Joe Steinmetz has said the university is committed to an approximately 50-50 split between in-state and out-of-state undergraduate students.
McCray said Arkansans make up 52% of the incoming freshman class.
"We are pleased with the growth of Arkansans in the freshman class from 2,400 last year to 2,490 this year (3.8% increase over last year)," McCray said.
UA spokesman John Thomas in an email noted an increase in Black and Hispanic students.
"Our total minority enrollment is 5,925 which is up more than 300 students from 2019," Thomas said.
The 5,925 total includes 2,531 Hispanic students, up 6.8% from 2,369 enrolled last fall.
Black student enrollment increased 4.1%, to 1,251 from 1,202 a year ago, according to UA data.
"There are concerted efforts on many fronts to increase enrollment and retention of underrepresented students including Black and Hispanic students," McCray said, praising the work done by Rafael Arciga Garcia, senior associate director for admissions, with Yvette Murphy-Erby, UA's top diversity officer.
"The University also launched a new pilot program that focused on specific high schools. This year's increase is a move in the right direction, but of course, we want to continue to expand our inclusion of students from diverse communities," McCray said.
Black students make up 4.5% of all students at UA in a state that is 15.7% Black, according to recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The decline in undergraduates reflected a decrease in the number of continuing students, down to 16,041 from 16,367 in fall 2019. In the past, UA officials have said some enrollment decline can result from an improving graduation rate as more students earn degrees on time than in the past.
The university did not formally announce an update to its graduation rate. Robinson told faculty members that he thought the six-year graduation rate -- sometimes referred to as the federal graduation rate -- would end up being reported as 68%. The most recent graduation report released by UA states a 66.2% six-year graduation rate for a cohort of 4,300 students who entered UA in 2013.
UA reported that its number of international students this fall decreased by about 14%, down to 1,211 from 1,408 in fall 2019.
Robert Massa, an adjunct professor of higher education at the University of Southern California who previously worked as the top enrollment officer at Dickinson College, said a widespread decline in international enrollment at U.S. colleges and universities will hurt schools' budgets.
"There just aren't enough domestic students to make up for that, and even if there were, they're not as able to pay the full price," Massa said, adding that having international students take different perspectives and experience to a university also improves the educational experience for U.S. students.
