University posts record enrollment despite Hurricane Ike
Lamar University’s fall 2008 headcount is 13,469 students, up 31.9 percent from fall 2007, when the university’s headcount was just slightly below the pre-Hurricane Rita levels set in the fall of 2005.
“This headcount enrollment is the largest in Lamar’s 85-year history and our semester credit hours are the largest since the fall of 1989,” said Kevin Smith, senior associate provost.
The official count, taken Wednesday, on the 20th day of classes, is all the more remarkable given the disruption to the region caused by Hurricane Ike that struck the region on Sept. 13. The university was closed for 10 days during which power was restored and repairs were made to many campus buildings. Classes resumed Sept. 25.
Approximately 300 students did not return to classes after Hurricane Ike devastated the region, Smith said. University officials have worked with students to enable as many as possible to resume classes this fall.
Lamar’s total semester credit hours are 130,137, an increase of 14.1 percent from the previous fall.
Most of the increase is due to enrollment in the LU master’s degree program offered in partnership with Higher Education Holdings of Dallas, Smith said.
The university’s innovative partnership with HEH has made the university the largest educator of teachers in Texas, Smith said. More than 3,200 certified teachers from more than 200 school districts across the state are enrolled in the program that began one year ago. Together, Lamar and HEH are offering LU’s master’s degree in educational leadership with the same high quality of instruction at less than half the cost of traditional programs.
“Increases were also observed in the colleges of engineering, up 10.2 percent, and fine arts and communication, which is up 4.7 percent,” Smith said.
“We are very pleased. These increases are the result of a lot of hard work by faculty and staff,” Smith said.
