TGS Student Body Profile

This past week was the official census date for enrollment at universities across the North Dakota University System. We are thrilled to have once again set a record for The Graduate School at UND and we can now confirm that we have 2673 graduate students. Below we have shared some graphs to show our historic enrollment as well as a profile of our graduate student body.

TGS Historic Enrollment since 1895

 

According to the most recent Council of Graduate Schools Report, the national trend for graduate enrollments shows a small decrease (1.1%) for 2010, yet it appears that the University of North Dakota has continued an upward trajectory with setting record enrollments for the last few years. Here is a broad look at our student body for 2011.

Enrollment in The Graduate School Skyrockets

The Graduate School established a new enrollment high with a Fall 2010 headcount of 2,560 students.   As I begin my 10^th Year of service as Dean, I must admit that this was wonderful news.   The secret is out and students from around the globe have discovered the many opportunities that The Graduate School at UND has to offer.   How did we accomplish the largest single year graduate student enrollment increase in the history of UND?   We don’t have all of the answers, but we believe that the following factors contributed.

• Breadth of Program Offerings –  The Graduate School offers more opportunities for advanced study than any other university between Minneapolis and Seattle.
• Committed Graduate Faculty –  Nearly 600 Graduate Faculty members with a strong commitment to teaching and research are involved in delivery of our graduate programming.   Our faculty’s commitment to their students correlate with one of the highest graduate student retention and completion rates in the nation.
• My GradSpace –  The launch of My GradSpace in April 2009 provided global access to The Graduate School.   Funded by the North Dakota University System and fueled by the creative spirit of The Graduate School staff, My GradSpace has become the get acquainted place for prospective students from around the world.
• Roadtrips –  The Graduate School visited more than 47 different locations last year in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Montana, Utah, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, and California.
• Web hits –  Approximately 350,000 visitors from around the world (July  1, 2009 to June 30, 2010).   The top ten countries generating visitors to our website:  USA, India, Canada, China, Bangladesh, Iran, Nepal, Nigeria, Saudia Arabia, and Cameroon.
• Applications and Admission Offers – The Graduate School processed a record number of applications for Fall 2010.   Approximately 1,900 applications were received and 850 offers of admission were made.
• Students Choose UND –  Approximately 82% of students offered admission to our programs enroll.
• Student Success – The opportunities afforded our students are unlimited.   Discover their GradStories.

From humble beginnings, The Graduate School has grown to 2560 students this year.

An all-time record enrollment in The Graduate School

Patiently we waited, and waited to learn what the all-important “4th week” enrollment count would reveal. The 4th week count is arbitrary but it comes after several early semester deadlines that can alter student enrollment behavior – late additions, students that withdraw or defer, for example.

Overall the University of North Dakota is experiencing its largest ever Spring time enrollment, with an increase in both the number of undergraduate and graduate students. Typically, Fall semester brings the largest number of new students in an academic year. Yet the past couple of years have shown that new graduate students don’t necessarily follow the traditional academic calendar, and our Spring enrollment numbers have remained steady with Fall, or even slightly increased.

The Graduate School was optimistic for an increase and we got it. Last night’s official 4th Week enrollment numbers showed the highest all-time number of graduate students enrolled at UND. And not by just a few. In the Fall of 2000, The Graduate School had an enrollment of 1452 students. In ten years, that number has increased by 899 students, with fairly steady growth over those years. Today our official number is 2,351 graduate students – an increase 62% over the past decade, and 8.7% over our Spring enrollment last year. This, at least, is the snapshot at 4th week. We look forward to serving even more students throughout the semester.