Lamar University’s official enrollment continued to set new records, and officials could not be more pleased.
After taking tabulations on the 20th class day, the official day for reporting purposes, Lamar University’s headcount for spring 2009 is 13,485, the highest enrollment in the university’s 85-year history.
Lamar’s fall 2008 enrollment was 13,469, which also set a record. By comparison, Spring 2008 enrollment was 10,562 and semester credit hours totaled 109,036. Semester credit hours for this spring totaled 129,150.
“The count is more than 25 percent higher than last spring and is the largest spring enrollment in the university’s history,” said Kevin Smith, senior associate provost. Semester credit hours are up more than 18 percent, Smith said.
The gains were expected and primarily are due to surging enrollment in Lamar’s distance education programs in education. These master’s programs, offered by the university in partnership with Higher Education Holdings of Dallas, are responsible for more than 3,800 students from across the state.
On-campus headcounts were strong also with all five of Lamar’s academic colleges recording increases, Smith said. Among the various major fields of study were sharp jumps in nursing; industrial engineering; sociology, social work and criminal justice; and health and kinesiology.
“On the heels of last fall’s dramatic growth, these increases position the university well for the future,” Smith said.
The university’s innovative partnership with HEH has made the university the largest educator of teachers in Texas, Smith said. Nearly 4,000 certified teachers from more than 300 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.
For more information on enrolling at Lamar University, visit lamar.edu or call (409) 880-8888.
