(Danville) — A local college is bucking the national trend of declining enrollment.
Averett University Wednesday reported more steady growth in their number of students. This spring, total enrollment at Averett grew over 8% from last year. Since the March term began for Averett Online, that growth is now up to nearly ten percent.
Last fall’s class was Averett’s third largest traditional class in recent history and its largest online enrollment ever.
“Our strategic priorities in innovative partnerships, transformational learning, and enrollment growth and visibility have led to tangible results for our University,” said Averett President Dr. Tiffany Franks. “The higher education industry has been bracing for the demographic enrollment cliff, which was expedited by the pandemic, and I’m proud to say that we’ve been proactive and intentional about preparing for these headwinds.”
According to the National Student Clearinghouse, colleges nationwide saw undergraduate enrollments drop 8% from 2019 to 2022.
“It’s unusual to have a higher enrollment in the spring than in the fall of the same academic year,” said Dr. S. Lee Beaumont, vice president of enrollment management and university marketing at Averett. “This accomplishment is a testament to our enrollment management strategies – not only recruitment and marketing programs, but also retention efforts across our campuses.”
Averett’s most popular majors this year for traditional students are Health & Sports Sciences, Business and Aeronautics. Psychology and Computer Science saw the largest increase for online students.