Spring enrollment spikes at WSU Tri-Cities

After setting a record enrollment of more than 1,600 students in the fall, Washington State University Tri-Cities has hit another milestone with its spring enrollment.

The Richland campus has the largest growth rate in the WSU system for its spring enrollment of 1,510 students.

While that’s fewer than this fall, it’s still 170 more students than last 2015, a jump of nearly 13 percent.

All the WSU campuses saw spring enrollment increase by just over 2 percent compared to last year.

Officials at WSU Tri-Cities acknowledged part of the increase is because to the Running Start program, which just began at the local campus in the fall. It brings about 100 high school juniors and seniors to the Richland campus for classes, and they are counted as enrolled students.

But there’s also dozens of new transfer students and a handful of new freshmen, demonstrating that WSU Tri-Cities is developing a reputation for setting students up for success, school officials said.

“It’s just that people choose to go where there’s high quality,” Vice Chancellor Chris Meiers told the Herald.

WSU officials said the record spring enrollments reflect not only that more students transferred or started their studies at its campuses in Pullman, Spokane, Vancouver, Richland and Everett or its online Global program, but that more students who enrolled in the fall also are still attending classes.

Meiers added that the average number of classes taken by students is also up 13 percent, meaning students are taking more courses and are better able to dedicate themselves to their education.

Officials at the Richland campus said there’s plenty of reason for more students to pursue attending WSU Tri-Cities.

Efforts to enhance student life at the campus are ongoing and a student union is in the works. A fitness room has opened and there’s a variety of other activities that began in recent years, including intramural sports and community service projects.

The university’s record of helping students get great jobs also is a big selling point, Meiers said.

And the campus’ proximity to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and contractors at the Hanford site make it easier for students to find internships and mentoring with professionals there.

A recent internal study by the university found 92 percent of last spring’s graduates either found jobs within six months of graduation or were enrolled in a graduate-level program.

“Anything above 90 (percent) is tremendous,” Meiers said.

And the growth doesn’t look like it will abate anytime soon.

High school seniors and others already are submitting admissions applications for the fall term. Those numbers weren’t released, but Meiers said administrators are expecting similar growth for new freshmen.

Overall, interim WSU President Daniel Bernardo recently told university regents that more than 17,000 freshman applications for the fall have been filed with the WSU system so far, with 16,000 of those for the Pullman campus. That’s a 20 percent increase compared to this time a year ago.

“Not only are our freshman application numbers large and academically strong enough to meet or exceed our goals, but we may have a wait list for the first time in years,” Bernardo told the regents when they recently met in Vancouver.

This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 9:03 PM with the headline "Spring enrollment spikes at WSU Tri-Cities."