Fall semester enrollment at UMR stands at 5,602 after four weeks – the highest enrollment for the campus in more than a decade, according to Laura Stoll, UMR registrar.

The last time UMR’s enrollment topped 5,600 students was in 1993, when 5,681 students were enrolled. Bill Clinton was in the White House, grunge music and clothing were in vogue, and the first web browser, Mosaic, was still in development.

The fall enrollment census – officially recorded at the end of four weeks – is up 195 students from the official fall 2004 figure. It includes three students who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina – two undergraduate students from Tulane University and one graduate student from the University of New Orleans.

This year’s crop of new students includes 894 first-time freshmen and 314 transfer students – increases of 18 freshmen and 36 transfers over last year’s numbers. The new transfer student class is also the largest since 1993.

UMR’s undergraduate enrollment now stands at 4,313 students, while the number of graduate students attending UMR is 1,289. Enrollment growth occurred in all categories – undergraduate (a 4.5 percent increase), graduate (0.2 percent), on campus (4.7 percent) and distance (6.4 percent).

UMR’s student body has been growing steadily since 2000, when 4,626 students were enrolled. The fall 2005 numbers represent a 21 percent increase over the fall 2000 numbers.

“These are exciting times for UMR, and we’re especially pleased to announce this continued growth in student enrollment,” says UMR Chancellor John F. Carney III. “The increased enrollment and high quality of students choosing the university indicates that UMR is a preferred choice among the nation’s finest students.”

UMR’s first-year and transfer students include a more diverse population, with 95 ethnic minorities – up from last year’s total of 73. Although about 76 percent of the students are from Missouri, the fall enrollment includes students from 48 states and 54 foreign countries.

The enrollment increase also presents challenges to the campus’s ability to accommodate students. With the university’s new 256-bed Residential College building and some new classrooms the University Center, campus housing and daytime classes are both near capacity.

“The campus academic, admissions, financial aid, registrar’s, housing and other student support units did an excellent job in handling the student demand this year,” says Jay Goff, UMR dean of enrollment management. “We were able to enroll and support every admitted student who wanted to attend UMR this year.”

Established in 1870 as the University of Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy, UMR is known for its excellence in engineering, science and technology education. The campus offers more than 60 degree programs in engineering, science, the liberal arts, the humanities, business, management, information technology, and the social sciences.