Date:
9/20/2007
Contact: Wendel Sloan at 505.562.2253
PORTALES—The 2007 fall enrollment at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales is 4,180, compared to the 2006 fall enrollment of 4,136—an increase of 44 students. Undergraduate enrollment is up, while graduate enrollment is down.
"Given our demographic conditions, this is a minor miracle," said Steven Gamble, ENMU president. "Considering the temporary reduction in personnel at Cannon Air Force Base during their transition to a new mission, we are very pleased with the numbers. We thought we might be down considerably, but this appears to be a break-even year."
Gamble noted that another factor affecting enrollment is low unemployment which causes potential students to enter the job market.
"We're especially happy with the quality of our freshman class," said Gamble. "Their average ACT is 19.82 versus 19.38 last year." More than 50 percent of freshmen have an ACT of 20 or higher, according to Gamble.
"We're also pleased that our new residence apartments, San Juan Village, have a 90-percent occupancy rate," Gamble said. "This type of residential living option for students, with many amenities not found in regular dorms, is keeping us competitive with our competition."
Semester credit hours are down slightly from last year's 44,710 to this year's 44,522.
“Coming close to matching last year is not great, but it’s much better than doing worse,” Gamble said. He noted that there is a downward trend in enrollment throughout New Mexico.