Despite COVID-19 altering the format of learning, students have shown to not be discouraged from enrolling in courses.

The university has seen an increase in enrollment for the Fall 2020 semester, reporting a total of 14,461 students.

Aime Anderson, a registrar, shared the main factor that has contributed to high enrollment rates for this fall semester.

“Student retention has been a key element in the increase in enrollment this semester,” said Anderson. “Retention rates in students returning for their second year and students returning for their third year increased this semester.”

The number of students from both undergraduate and graduate programs have seen a rise in growth in addition to full and part-time students.

“The total number of full-time students increased by 1.4%, and the number of part-time students also increased by 1.4%,” stated Anderson. “Undergraduate students increased by 1.5%, and graduate students increased by 0.7%.”

Even though the overall student body rate has increased, a particular demographic of students has decreased in numbers.

“Although there was a modest increase in the number of graduate international students, overall international student enrollment is down,” shared Anderson.

Polina Sleptsova, a sophomore communication major, is an international student from Russia. She explained why she decided to enroll for this semester.

“COVID-19 hasn’t influenced my decision in enrollment this semester at all, as I already was in the U.S.,” said Sleptsova. “Because of the virus, I couldn’t go home during the summer, so I stayed here and decided not to leave. One of the reasons was that I didn’t want to have any difficulties in coming back here in August, so I basically made my life a little easier. Of course, it’s hard now because I haven’t seen my family in so long, but I hope it’s worth it.”

Sleptsova noted why she believes enrollment rates among international students have dropped, while general enrollment has increased.

“Actually, there are a few reasons for that,” explained Sleptsova. “First, because of the pandemic in the U.S., embassies abroad were closed. Students who came back home for the summer break couldn’t renew their visas. Second, I think during these hard times, most international students feel much safer at home, close to their families, than in another country. And also, the majority of the international students have really long flights with multiple layovers.”