SUPERIOR, Wis. (Sept. 2, 2016) — Move In Day ushers in a new class of students to the University of Wisconsin-Superior, a record-setting student population begins their academic journey.
With a 3 percent increase in total enrollment at UW-Superior, the fall semester, which begins on Sept. 6, promises to bring continued excitement to campus.
“As a campus, we are thrilled that more students are choosing UW-Superior to pursue and continue their degrees,” said Dr. Christopher Trembley, vice chancellor of enrollment management. “Our fall enrollment reflects interest from a variety of student populations — a diversity that we are purposefully seeking as we grow.”
For the second year in a row, UW-Superior will see an increase in freshmen enrollment. Fall 2016 will see a rise of at least 5 percent from last year. This follows an increase of about 15 percent from last fall, which puts the two-year total at a more than 20 percent.
While many of UW-Superior’s new freshmen come directly from high school, the ages range from 17 to 34. With such a diverse age range, 32 percent have yet to declare a major with the next most popular majors for new freshmen listed as biology, elementary education and business administration.
That growth comes from an extended reach for UW-Superior with nearly 400 freshmen students coming from 175 different high school from 11 states including Alaska, California, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and of course, Wisconsin. Locally, Superior Senior High School has the largest number enrolling with 42 students.
Looking around the world, UW-Superior will host nearly 225 international students – marking the largest and most diverse international enrollment in university history. These new students from nearly 50 different countries contribute to UW-Superior holding the second largest percentage of undergraduate international students among all the schools in the UW system.
A sizeable portion of international students have also come to UW-Superior as transfer students, helping to account for a 23 percent overall increase. Fourteen different countries including Austria, Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Latvia, Mongolia, Peru, Romania, Spain and Vietnam are represented along with 17 different U.S. states in the total of nearly 325 new transfer students.
These new students have attended a collective 127 different colleges and universities, including a large number of students from Lake Superior College, Fond Du Lac Community College, Wisconsin Indianhead Tech College and Madison Area Technical College. The age of UW-Superior’s incoming transfer students range from 18 to 60 – proving it’s never too late to earn a bachelor’s degree. Among UW-Superior’s transfer students, the most popular major is elementary education, followed by social work, physical education and health and wellness management.
“Given the increased efforts campus-wide, we have early indicators that this growth will continue well beyond fall semester,” said Dr. Trembley. “We have built new relationships, enhanced our visibility and marketing, and have worked diligently to create a campus environment that is appealing to current and prospective students. This enrollment growth is giving the campus new momentum as we continue to focus on student success and academic excellence.”
More than 700 new students took part in the New Student Celebration , marking their formal entrance into the academic world as they learn about UW-Superior’s history and the importance of the liberal arts. These new students will join nearly 2,000 returning students in the classroom when the fall semester begins on Tuesday.
