IU state's largest university; IUPUI enrollment all-time high

By DeAnna Hines

Enrollment figures for the fall semester on all IU campuses were released last week and the number of students remains consistently high compared to enrollments recorded in previous years. At 90,521 students, IU continues to be the state's largest university. IUPUI and IU Southeast both had enrollment increases.

"We're very pleased that enrollment has continued to remain strong as we head toward the next century," said IU President Myles Brand. "Enrollments, by their very nature, are cyclical. For this reason you expect slight upturns and down ticks. So it is most important to view enrollment over a period of years and in this regard IU has been consistently strong."

Although the numbers show a slight decline of 1 percent compared to the first semester last year, officials were previously aware that due to changes in student-age population, enrollment was expected to remain fairly stable and will continue at that level for a few years before increasing later in this decade.

IU is providing 961,857 credit hours of instruction this semester. And the credit hour total increased by one-tenth of 1 percent. The IUPUI campus this fall has recorded an all-time high for credit hours enrolled -- 260,907.5.

IUPUI Chancellor Gerald L. Bepko attributed the increase to a combination of factors. He credited the comprehensive enrollment management plan which has put renewed emphasis on service to students and enhanced public understanding of the opportunities at IUPUI.

IUPUI has enrolled more full-time students than part-time students, Bepko said, and "the number of new students is up 8 percent, with overall African American enrollment up 7.6 percent from last fall.

"Our obligation as the public urban university campus in Indiana's largest population center is to try to raise educational aspirations and achievements in this region. Coupled with the fact that we graduated a record number of students last May, and that SAT scores of entering students are up, this further evidence of meeting our obligation is good news indeed," Bepko said.

Commenting on the increased enrollment on his campus, Southeast Chancellor F. C. Richardson said: "Former Chancellor Leon Rand put together last spring an Enrollment Management Group that has worked diligently for the last several months to do such things as improve and expand our orientation sessions for new students and to help meet the special needs of nontraditional students. The efforts of that group are beginning to pay dividends."

The number of students reported for each campus follows:

Campus	Students	Credit Hours
Bloomington	34,700 (-1.0%)	448,834.5 (-0.7%)
IUPUI	27,011 (+0.3%)	260,907.5 (+2.6%)
East (Richmond)	2,351 (-3.3%)	20,303.0 (-3.4%)
**Fort Wayne	5,861 (-1.4%)	52,643.5 (+0.1%)
Kokomo	2,965 (-3.3%)	24,854.0 (+0.9%)
Northwest (Gary)	5,149 (-2.8%)	47,189.0 (-3.6%)
South Bend	7,088 (-2.5%)	59,130.5 (-1.6%)
Southeast (New Albany)	5,396 (+.0.3%)	47.995.0 (+1.0)

** Fort Wayne campus figures reflect only the Indiana University students enrolled there.

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