Fall Enrollment Climbs to 7,928 as Nursing and Cybersecurity Set Records

UW–Porter Falls enrolled 7,928 students this fall, according to census-day figures from the Registrar’s Office. That is up 226 students, or 2.9 percent, from 7,702 last year. It is the third straight year of growth and the largest one-year increase since 2014.

Two programs set records. Nursing enrolled 108 new first-year and transfer students, its largest class, in the second year of its expanded cohort. Cybersecurity enrolled 88 new students, up from 71. Transfer enrollment rose about 6 percent, after a 7 percent rise last year, and more than half of the new transfer students came from the nine two-year colleges with guaranteed-transfer agreements. The university expects to add more partners this fall.

“Three years in a row is a trend, and the chancellor told us last fall to go get three, so I am going to enjoy this for exactly one afternoon. Then we start on four.”

— Colette Rindahl, Registrar

Retention held at 81 percent of last year’s first-year students returning for a second year. The retention gap between first-generation students and other students narrowed to four percentage points, the smallest the university has recorded.

The residence halls opened at 97 percent of capacity. Housing staff say that at the current rate of growth, some students could be placed in temporary rooms next fall. A planning group is looking at whether lounges or an off-campus block lease would be the better short-term fix.

This is also the first class to complete the new AI-literacy module in the first-year seminar. The Registrar reports that all 1,982 new first-year students were enrolled in a section on census day.

The full report, broken down by college, residency and program, will be posted with the university’s quick facts in October. Prospective transfer students can see the partner colleges on the transfer pages.

Contact: Office of University Communications, news@uwporterfalls.edu