Northern Arizona University saw nearly 6 percent overall enrollment growth for spring, marking 10 consecutive years of record-setting enrollment. NAU also experienced a 12 percent increase in minority student enrollment.
NAU’s total spring student population is 27,106, up from 25,590 in the spring of 2015.
“We are thrilled to see increases in retention from fall to spring, and year to year growth,” said NAU President Rita Cheng. “The significant increase in diversity of the student body demonstrates our commitment to fostering an inclusive and supportive environment.”
Numerous initiatives, including STAR, TRiO and First Scholars programs, provide an array of support services for undergraduate students and contribute to retention.
NAU students shared how much they benefited from NAU support services as incoming Lumberjack students.
“Coming in as a freshman from out of state is intimidating but through the Peer Jacks mentoring program, I was pretty much guaranteed a friend right off the bat and that made all the difference for me,” said Spencer Sanders, a senior at NAU majoring in political science and psychology.
Brienna Trow, a junior from Phoenix, and Dylan Palacpac, a second semester freshman, took advantage of the Supplemental Instruction to help them through Biology 181.
“Science is not my strong suit but I needed another science course to get in to the College of Education,” said Trow, who is majoring in special and elementary education. “I found out about SI and went to meetings twice a week. It helped me so much to go over quizzes, activities and readings. So when I went to class, I felt prepared and confident. I passed the course and got into the College of Education.”
Palacpac added, “Without the SI sessions, I would not have been able to bring my grade up to an A. It’s a really awesome service that NAU offers.”
Enrollment on the Flagstaff campus reached 19,443. NAU also has 4,910 online students, 501 at NAU-Yuma and 2,001 on its community campuses. Enrollment on the Phoenix Biomedical Campus is 251.
The total undergraduate population of 23,436 reflects an increase of nearly 7 percent over spring 2015. Graduate student enrollment of 3,670 is also up from 3,621 last spring.
For details regarding ethnicity, academic years and colleges, the full report is available online.