Posted 12:58 p.m. Monday, Sept. 23, 2019
UWL enrollment reaches record high — even as college enrollment falls nationally.
UWL enrollment reaches record high — even as college enrollment falls nationally
UW-La Crosse’s enrollment is the largest and most diverse in the university's 110-year history. UWL’s numbers grow even as college enrollment is falling nationally, in part because of declining birth rates.
After the official count taken Sept. 16, UWL set a record with 10,580 total students enrolled for the fall semester. UWL also set a record enrollment for U.S. students of color on campus at 1,081 — slightly more than 10%. The previous local enrollment record was set in fall 2018 with 10,569 students.
“Both the diversity and the size of our enrollment are outstanding,” says UWL Chancellor Joe Gow. “They demonstrate that our recruiting and retention efforts are succeeding. Clearly, our staff and faculty are wonderfully student-centered.”
UWL's incoming, first-year class has 2,194 students, which is also a record.
“UWL is seen as a very strong campus here in the Midwest,” says Corey Sjoquist, UWL director of Admissions. “It is a combination of our faculty, academic programs, facilities and the great student support that really attracts students to our campus.”
Sjoquist also pointed to UWL's consistently high rank in U.S. News and World Report.
The popular magazine recently moved UWL up to the No. 3 public university among Best Regional Universities in the Midwest — up from No. 4 a year ago. It’s the 19th year in a row that UWL has remained the top-ranked comprehensive campus in the UW System and among the top 4 in the Midwest.
People are continually visiting UWL to see it in person. Last year the number of campus visits included over 19,000 people.
Just as enrollment has grown, UWL’s total number of undergraduate degrees awarded is also up. This number has steadily risen over the last decade with 2,020 undergraduate degrees awarded in 2018-19, up from 1,658 in 2010-11.