Record-Shattering Enrollment at UNH:
100-Percent Increase in Incoming Class is Extremely Rare
West Haven, Conn. - The word is out: The University of New Haven (UNH) is being transformed with new programs and facilities, bringing the University's enrollment to a record-shattering high. Increasing an incoming class 100 percent in one year is extremely rare, but UNH has experienced an "off-the-charts" spike in enrollment for fall 2008. By the crucial national "deadline" of May 1, deposits were up 104 percent over last year, following a dizzying number of applications.
"When a University's enrollment spikes 10 to 20 percent within a year, its competitors take note," says UNH Vice President of Enrollment Management Dennis Nostrand. "What UNH has experienced is noteworthy and speaks to the transformation that has occurred at the University the past few years." He adds that "It's extremely rare to have an increase of this kind in just one year, especially when the high school population has leveled off in the Northeast and has begun to decline in Connecticut."
The enrollment increase is the result of a confluence of several unique factors, Nostrand says. Foremost in the University's efforts is spreading the word about its new facilities-the $15.5 million David A. Beckerman Recreation Center and a new, $46 million 400-bed, apartment-style, residence hall slated for ground breaking in June. "Add the recent announcement that football will return to UNH as part of the Northeast-10 Athletic Conference in the fall of 2009, and the University's position as one of the largest study-abroad providers in the nation, and you start to see the formula that we've developed in the last few years-and that's just the beginning."
Other recent improvements include two new $1-million turf fields, a trading room floor, known as the Samuel S. Bergami, Jr., Learning Center for Finance and Technology, and a University College with myriad programs life-long learning and customized corporate training to area and regional businesses, among others.
A leader in experiential education, the University of New Haven provides its students with a unique combination of solid liberal arts and real-world, hands-on professional training. A private University founded in 1920, UNH has a full-time undergraduate enrollment of more than 2,400 students-with 70 percent residing on its 80-acre main campus-and a graduate school enrollment that exceeds 1,700. The University offers more than 80 undergraduate degrees and more than 25 graduate degrees through its four colleges, in fields such as sports management, nutrition, forensic science, music and sound recording, engineering, computer science and criminal justice. University College at UNH develops programs and courses to meet the emerging educational and training needs of educators, businesses and public and social agencies, focusing on academic excellence, convenience and flexibility. University of New Haven students study abroad through a variety of distinctive programs.
