Utah's Public Colleges, Universities: Enrollment Increases for Fourth Year

The number of students attending Utah’s colleges and universities continues to increase for 2011.

The Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) enrollment for the fall 2011 semester increased by more than 1,000 full-time equivalent students, for an increase of 1.17 percent over 2010. This is the fourth year in a row that enrollment has seen growth, with institutions showing increases in full-time equivalent students.

“For the past few years, we have seen enrollment numbers grow and that still appears to be the case,” said Bill Sederburg, commissioner of higher education. “We would have seen even greater growth this year if colleges had not been forced to limit course offerings due to space and faculty availability. To reach our ‘Big Goal’ to achieve 66 percent of Utah’s workforce with a post-secondary credential in the next decade, it is extremely important that enrollment numbers continue to grow each year.”

Headcount includes all students enrolled at an institution, while FTE (Full Time Equivalent) approximates the number of students enrolled full-time (15 semester hours for undergraduate students and 10 semester hours for graduate students) each semester. Additionally, the system serves several thousand students in non-traditional programs which are not budget-related and do not receive any taxpayer support. Total headcount and budget-related FTE are included on the following table. (Budget-related are enrollments eligible for state funding.)

About The Utah System of Higher Education — USHE includes all of Utah’s eight public colleges and universities: The University of Utah, Utah State University, Weber State University, Southern Utah University, Snow College, Dixie State College, Utah Valley University and Salt Lake Community College. For more information on the Utah System of Higher Education, visit its website.

Utah System of Higher Education - Fall 2011 3rd Week Enrollment Numbers

BUDGET-RELATED FTE	2010	2011	% CHANGE OVER 2010
University of Utah	25,654	26,227	2.23%
Utah State University*	19,068	19,542	2.48%
Weber State University	13,700	13,821	0.88%
Southern Utah University	6,241	6,008	-3.74%
Snow College	3,161	3,244	2.62%
Dixie State College	6,118	6,395	4.52%
Utah Valley University	19,010	19,705	3.65%
Salt Lake Community College	16,567	15,856	-4.29%
USHE Total	109,520	110,798	1.17%

BUDGET- RELATED HEADCOUNT	2010	2011	% CHANGE OVER ‘10
University of Utah	30,514	31,343	2.72%
Utah State University*	25,531	26,191	2.59%
Weber State University	20,155	20,515	1.79
Southern Utah University	6,963	6,880	-1.19%
Snow College	3,867	3,961	2.43%
Dixie State College	8,138	8,583	5.47%
Utah Valley University	26,844	27,823	3.65%
Salt Lake Community College	28,443	27,041	-4.93%
USHE Total	150,455	152,337	1.25%

TOTAL HEADCOUNT	2010	2011	% CHANGE OVER ‘10
University of Utah	30,833	31,673	2.72%
Utah State University*	28,401	28,994	2.09%
Weber State University	24,126	25,483	5.62%
Southern Utah University	8,024	7,750	-3.41%
Snow College	4,386	4,465	1.80%
Dixie State College	8,755	9,086	3.78%
Utah Valley University	32,670	33,395	2.22%
Salt Lake Community College	33,983	33,167	-2.40%
USHE Total	171,178	174,013	1.66%