TAMIU Hits Record 7000+ Enrollment, Welcomes New Chancellor
Written by Post Public Information Representative, Sep 30, 2011, 0 Comments
Courtesy Steve Harmon,
(Laredo, Tx)- Jordan M. Gibson made history Thursday at Texas A&M International University (TAMIU). The junior marketing major and member of TAMIU’s Men’s Golf Team from Painted Butte, Alberta, Canada, is the 7000th student of a record 7,039 students enrolled at TAMIU this Fall.
Gibson and fellow TAMIU students were joined by the new Texas A&M University System Chancellor, John Sharp, who helped cut a commemorative cake to welcome the University’s record class, a 2.71% increase over last Fall’s 6,853 students. Sharp, who became Chancellor Sept. 6, is touring the System’s 11 universities, seven state agencies and a comprehensive health science center.
Officials said students are also enrolling in more courses, with 70,441 semester credit hours being generated, a 3.59 percent increase over last Fall’s 67,997 SCH. State funding is based on SCH.
TAMIU president Ray Keck said this Fall’s enrollment, recruited during State budget cuts, reductions in student assistance and a general national economic downturn, speaks highly of TAMIU student commitment and determination.
“Unfortunately, there was a perfect storm of bad news for all State universities and ours was no different. We saw aid to needy students reduced, operating budgets cut 18% and a bleak national economic forecast compounding everything. Yet students made their decision, imagined their possibilities here at TAMIU and enrolled. We are encouraged by their commitment and their determination,” Dr. Keck explained.
“Like all of Texas’ public universities, we are deeply concerned with the reductions in State funding and the potential for lasting damage that we believe they may represent. TAMIU is a thriving engine of community change and betterment: driving growth, business investments and quality of life enhancements. That engine was effectively slowed by this Legislative Session,” Keck continued.
He provided additional information on this Fall’s enrollment at TAMIU.
Female students outnumber males 4,211 (59.82 percent) to 2,828 (40.18 percent) and 93 percent of students identify themselves as minority, including Hispanic, African-American, Asian, American Indian and Other.
The overall average student age is 23 with undergraduates averaging 22 and graduates 31. The doctoral student population numbers 29, and averages 33 years of age. The University’s oldest student is 62. The student/teacher ratio is 25:1 and undergraduate class sizes average 33 students.
HB1 students, qualified local high students enrolled in University-level coursework coordinated by their high school campus and district, number 521.
While 96 percent of students are from Texas, almost three percent are foreign. International students number 188 and come from 26 countries.
The College with the highest enrollment is the College of Arts and Sciences with 3,879 students.
The most popular undergraduate majors are business administration, criminal justice, nursing, early childhood education and biology.
The most popular graduate majors are business administration, educational administration, school counseling, counseling psychology and accounting.
Registration for Spring 2012 starts Monday, Oct. 31. Classes start Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012.
