Students from all 50 states and over 30 foreign countries arrived back to school at Embry-Riddle this past month. The Prescott campus is welcoming the largest incoming class in the campus’s history, which surpasses last year’s class – which previously held the distinction of the largest ever – by eight percent. As a result of these two consecutive record-breaking classes and increased retention, Embry-Riddle’s Prescott campus will have a student population exceeding 2,000 for the first time in the campus’s history.
Highlights of the incoming class include a 50 percent increase in business students from last year; a strong showing for the first year of forensic biology and the Master’s in Security and Intelligence, both of which are exceeding enrollment expectations; as well as success in majors in their sophomore season such as a doubling of the new students in the Cyber Intelligence and Security program, and a quadrupling of the new students in the Software Engineering program. All four colleges, including the nation’s first College of Security and Intelligence, show increases in enrollments over last year. The average GPA for the incoming class is up slightly from the previous class as well, so growth has been achieved without sacrificing academic quality.
The campus is also becoming more diverse, as the female population will once again increase as a percentage of the overall student population, the incoming graduate student class is more than double what it was last year, and international students will exceed 200 and 10 percent of the total student population for the first time in campus history. The addition of an English as a Second Language (ERLI) program on campus, which begins this fall, will further contribute to this diversity.
Recruitment efforts in the last year have been enhanced by reallocating resources to establish a transfer student recruiter, an additional international student recruiter, a graduate student recruiter and regional recruiters in the major Western markets of Seattle, Denver and Southern California. An emphasis in leveraging social media and delivering timely, relevant and engaging messaging to prospective students may also be reasons for the campus’s recent success, as well as continued growing awareness of the excellence in academics and outcomes for graduates. That theme continues as the Prescott Campus of Embry-Riddle was just recently named the #3 program in the nation in Aerospace Engineering in the nation and the #14 ranking for overall Engineering programs. It is an exciting time of growth and excellence at the University’s Western campus. QCBN
Bryan Dougherty is the dean of enrollment management at Prescott Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He can be reached at 928-777-6696 or email: Bryan.Dougherty@erau.edu.
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