Davis & Elkins College President G.T. "Buck" Smith has announced official enrollment figures for the fall 2009 semester, breaking all records for new full-time students in more than 60 years.
The number of new full-time students is 310, an increase of more than 50 percent from a year ago. The total number of full-time students is 625, an increase of 22.3 percent in one year.
"We are of course most gratified by these results," Smith said, noting that not since the post-World War II avalanche of returning veterans has there been such a large entering class at Davis & Elkins. "This success is the result of everyone - faculty, staff, students, trustees, alumni - reaching out with enthusiasm to prospective students and their families, sharing with them what a remarkable place this is."
Other statistics from the D&E Registrar's Office include the total number of full- and part-time students, 710; and the full-time-equivalent total is 667, a nearly 25 percent increase over last year.
College officials credit the increases to a new, more personalized approach to recruiting under the leadership of Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Kevin Wilson. This, along with a pervasive, positive, can-do spirit throughout the campus has helped give Davis & Elkins what may be the most successful enrollment story in the nation. "So far as we know, no other college or university in America has achieved a more than 50 percent growth in its entering class in one year," Smith said.
Another key factor for the unprecedented enrollment increase may have been the decision in March by the college's board of trustees to lower tuition for all full-time students. That action, in the midst of the severe economic downturn, brought national attention to the venerable, 105-year old college.
"Already several hundred to several thousand dollars less expensive than most other private colleges, the tuition decision brought the advantages of a small, private college within reach of even more families, nationally as well as regionally," Smith added.
Early enrollment projections last winter suggested additional on-campus housing would be needed for the incoming class. During the summer, Darby Hall, which had been used for office space and temporary guest housing in recent years, was refurbished and re-opened as a freshman women's residence hall, currently housing 86 new students.
Other improvements designed to enhance service to the student body include the new Robbins-Madden Fitness Center, enhanced campus security, additional academic support services, addition of new faculty, strengthening of several academic and athletic programs, making the entire campus wireless, and providing a new 24/7 computer lab in the college's Booth Library.
"It is a wonderful thing to see so many students on their way to and from class, the parking lots full to capacity and an air of anticipation everywhere," Smith said. "What is truly remarkable is that the academic quality of the entering class also was greatly enhanced. Whereas last year 42 percent of entering freshmen had a high school GPA of 3.0 or better, that number increased this year to 63 percent. They are talented and enthusiastic young people whose potential we are eager now to embrace and nurture."
