Southeast Texas P-16 Council

Lamar Institute of Technology has its largest spring enrollment in the school’s history.

Enrollment for the Spring 2010 semester, as reported on the 20th class day, is 2,791 students, an increase of 6.73 percent over the Spring 2009 semester. The Spring 2009 semester enrollment was 2,615 students.

LIT also reported its largest fall enrollment for Fall 2009, with 3,162 students. Fall semesters typically have larger enrollments than spring semesters.

With a total headcount of 14,054 for the spring semester, Lamar University has set a new record not only for its highest spring enrollment, but also for the largest enrollment in the university’s history.

Traditionally, fall enrollments are higher than those in the spring, but continued growth in Lamar’s non-traditional online programs appears to have altered that pattern. Lamar’s fall 2009 enrollment was 13,994.

Lamar’s headcount is up 4.22 percent over last spring, when 13,485 students were enrolled. Students are enrolled for 133,754 semester credit hours, an increase of 5.26 percent over last spring (127,066).

Enrollment in Lamar’s online Academic Partnership Master’s in Education programs remains strong and is up about 1.5 percent with 4,000 graduate students.

A slack economy aids retention and promotes higher education as a career strategy, said Kevin Smith, senior associate provost at Lamar.

Other highlights in the tally include

• College of Engineering — 13 % growth.
• The College of Fine Arts and Communication up 12 %
• Lamar’s College of Arts and Sciences gained 6.5 %
• Education is now Lamar’s largest college with more than 5,000 students pursuing degrees
• The university’s fastest-growing traditional program was its MBA, up 45 % over a year ago