The number of graduate students enrolled at EIU has increased this semester. This growth in the midst the university’s ongoing financial woes.
Exact numbers won’t be available until 10th day enrollment in September, but interim graduate dean Ryan Hendrickson expects 10 percent, or more, increase of graduate students.
“That’s a significant growth from a year ago,” he said.
In fall of last year, grad students, numbering 1,318, made up 15.5 percent of the university’s total enrollment. Hendrickson anticipates that number going up will have a positive impact on the institution.
All four of EIU’s academic colleges, the College of Arts and Humanities, the College of Education and Professional Studies, the Lumpkin College of Business and Applied Sciences, and the College of Sciences, are seeing enrollment rise. He suggested that “innovative and functional” programs are the reason why the graduate school continues to see growth.