Vice Chancellor for University Relations, 308.865.8529
Total enrollment at the University of Nebraska at Kearney is up slightly (0.4 percent) to 6,468, highest headcount since 2000.
Some of the trends within the overall, steady enrollment number are significant, perhaps giving a hint of future direction, not only for UNK, but for public higher education in Nebraska and the region.
Graduate headcount is up significantly, by 12 percent. This year’s level is the highest since 1996. This trend is being fueled by an increase of 34.2 percent in off-campus, online graduate students, achieving an all-time record enrollment in this category.
Ethnic representation is at an all-time high. International and American minority students total 779.
Nonresident headcount is up by more than eight percent, while Nebraska students are down by one percent. Student numbers increased from Colorado and Florida, while declining from South Dakota, Kansas, and Wyoming. Omaha area freshman are up 27 percent. Students have come to UNK this year from 41 countries around the world, 44 states and all 93 counties in Nebraska.
On-campus enrollment is down, though these numbers, especially undergraduate, are expected to increase with the completion of three new residence halls within the next two years. Freshman applications were up 1.5 percent but, disappointingly, the yield of freshmen who actually enrolled did not match.
Chancellor Douglas A. Kristensen characterized the fall enrollment numbers as “encouraging in this tough competitive environment, especially with the continuing decline in numbers of high school students in Nebraska. Just to be holding our own, overall, is really a positive statement about UNK’s ability to attract and hold students.”
“The numbers,” Chancellor Kristensen said, “also indicate to us areas where we need to reapply our energy in telling UNK’s great story of the high quality scholarship of our students and faculty, the many wonderful career and graduate/professional school successes of our alumni, and the unparalleled supportive community at UNK and in Kearney that helps students and faculty achieve that success while enjoying a wonderful quality of life.”
