MOLINE, Ill. — On Thursday, Western Illinois University released their Fall 2021 enrollment numbers saying enrollment numbers "exceeds expectations".
The University is celebrating the highest international student enrollment in 30 years, according to the University. They also stated they are seeing an increase in new graduate student enrollment.
The total enrollment for Fall of 2021 was 7,455. The data available on the University's website shows that Fall of 2021 makes for at least 7 straight years of declined enrollment for Fall semesters.
The total number of international students rolled this fall is 658, a "historical" record for Western University. This year's international enrollment numbers outranks the previous high of 574 set in 1987. The University also says new entering graduate student enrollment has increased by 36.7%, while total graduate enrollment increased by 26.0%.
"I would like to thank everyone who played a role in increasing our new student enrollment this fall. When I took over as your president in January 2021, one of the main initiatives put into place was to further enhance our recruitment and enrollment management strategies. We are well on our way to achieving our goals of increasing the number of students who select WIU for their college education," said WIU President Guiyou Huang. "Under the direction of our new vice president for enrollment management, Amber Schultz, I have no doubt that we will meet our enrollment and retention goals."
Dual enrollment (high school students who are taking classes at WIU during their junior or senior years) has also increased by nearly 47% according to the University.
"We are actively working to recruit and enroll students for Spring 2022 and Fall 2022, and we will continue to adapt and implement new ideas so that prospective students and their families know that WIU's Macomb and Quad Cities campuses, as well as our remote learning programs, provide the outstanding opportunities they need, want and deserve from a public higher education institution," Huang added. "Equally important is student retention, and we will continue to build our retention initiatives to ensure our students are supported and successful at WIU, from start to finish."
