Arkansas State University ranks second in the state in enrollment numbers, reporting a new record of 14,109 students after its 11th day of class census. 

“More than once I’ve had someone tell me that ‘campus seems busy again’ or ‘events are bigger,’ and it adds up to making A-State a great place to be,” said chancellor Dr. Todd Shields in a press release. 

Over the past three years, A-State experienced a decline in enrollment. According to an A-State press release, the upturn is also “highlighted by growth in first-year students on campus, and an increase of over 100 students living in campus housing.”

In addition to on-campus growth, the university also saw increases in the number of first-time international students, Campus Queretaro and online students. 

“Foreign policy changes allowed more international students to come to the US,” said Dr. Thilla Sivakumaran, vice chancellor for enrollment management and global outreach.  

“During the pandemic, everything was closed down, but US embassies were open in those areas. ​​More people applied and we have admitted them.” 

Sivakumaran stated the reason for such a large class is A-State’s diverse portfolio of students. 

“Not just focusing on domestic students, but also international, online and locations like Beebe and even Mexico, if you start adding all those together, it gives us our second largest enrollment,” Sivakumaran said. 

A-State made changes in its recruitment techniques as well. A-State is placing recruiters in more parts of the state, such as Memphis, Tennessee and central and northwest Arkansas. 

“They live there… so it’s easier for them to build relationships in those locations. (They can) visit with school counselors and build those relationships because the school counselors are key to recruiting students,” Sivakumaran said. 

Even with the increased numbers, A-State is not at maximum housing capacity. The university considers 2,000 freshmen the maximum capacity. Currently, A-State has around 1,000 freshmen. 

A-State is also experiencing its second best first-to-second year retention rate with 77.6%. 

 “Anytime you have a positive return, it just means that the next year’s class will benefit from it as long as you bring in the same or higher number of students,” Sivakumaran said. 

A-State plans to continue this trend by employing extensive digital marketing campaigns. They currently have a recruiter in Dallas who serves the east Texas area, as well as the increased number of recruiters within Arkansas. 

“It really comes down to continuing to do what we started last year, but just refining it. Then being conscientious of where the demographic shifts are, where the market is and really building relationships with school counselors,” Sivakumaran said.

A-State is one of only three schools in the state whose enrollment numbers grew, the others being Southern Arkansas University and the University of Arkansas. 

“UCA is now down under 10,000 (students), UALR is down under 10,000, Arkansas Tech is down under 10,000,” said Dr. Bill Smith, chief communications officer. “We’re growing, but it’s not like Fayetteville growth. But we are moving in the right direction.”

While Smith and Sivakumaran weren’t sure what prompted such growth, both thought A-State’s on-campus, online, graduate, international and Campus Queretaro offerings brought in many new students. 

“The difference for us is that our portfolio is very different from Fayetteville’s,” Sivakumaran said. “We have multiple ways to get an A-State degree. It’s important to create multiple pathways to get a degree where other people are just invested in mainly one pathway.”

Categories: News