ARKANSAS, USA — Universities and colleges across the natural state are seeing an uptick in enrollment which is something not many can say in other parts of the country.
Across the nation, fewer and fewer students are entering the path of higher education. However, in the Natural State that's not the case, as many colleges are reporting record enrollment.
Assistant Vice Chancellor of Enrollment Management, Dr Kindle Holderby, at UA Little Rock said this trend their seeing is widespread and isn't random.
"At least in 10 years, this is the highest increase at the school that has been seen," Dr. Holderby said.
As UA Little Rock, enrollment is hitting a new level for this fall's semester. In some categories the university is seeing double digit growth.
First-time freshman growth is up 29%, transfers are up 8%, and graduate student enrollment is up 5%.
According to Dr. Holderby, this growth isn't being seen outside of Arkansas.
"That's really a cause for celebration for us, because a lot of the two year institutions got hit really hard by COVID and their enrollment numbers were dwindling," Dr. Holderby said.
With that in mind, how is UA Little Rock seeing a spike?
Dr. Holderby credits it to a handful of things, but a major boost is what he calls the university's "commitment to affordability."
Some students have the opportunity of cutting their tuition in half, which immediately catches the attention of those worried about the cost of attendance.
"We just kind of cut straight through all that and said, 'okay, for first time freshmen when you're coming here, if you commit to coming here, we're going to lock you in at 50% off your tuition and fees for not only your freshman year, but your sophomore year as well,'" Dr. Holderby said.
The school's success is mirrored at other universities across the Natural State too. It's something that Dr. Holderby said he's proud to see and chalks up to a new sense of "normalcy."
"Coming out of COVID or at least learning how to live with it, and I think that this helps play a role into why students and families are like, 'okay, it's time to time to get back,'” Dr. Holderby said.
As for other universities, for the 5th time in 6 years, UCA has had freshman enrollment exceed 18,000 with this current first-time freshman class likely the second-largest ever.
At Arkansas State, they've surpassed a 14,000 enrollment for the first time since Fall 2018.