Summer enrollment reaches record high at IU

Summer enrollment has hit record levels at six out of the eight IU campuses. IU summer enrollment has reached an all-time high of 33,276 students, a 3.5 percent increase from last summer. \nIU campuses also experienced a 4 percent increase in the number of credit hours taken. Record highs in enrollment were set at IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis, IU East Richmond, IU Northwest Gary, IU South Bend, IU Southeast New Albany and IU-Purdue Fort Wayne. \n"We have filled classes that we offered and opened a couple new classes that were in high demand," said Linda Fritschner, acting associate vice chancellor for extended programs at IU South Bend. "Professors often took an extra one or two students in their classes." \nShe said she also noticed a dramatic increase in enrollments in nursing and health profession classes. \nLes Coyne, vice chancellor of extended programs at IU-Bloomington, said he attributed this general increase to the lackluster economy. \n"Students have a tendency to stay with their education when there are no good jobs or internships available," he said. He also said that since many students owned 12-month leases in Bloomington, taking classes was not really a hindrance. \nFritschner said she agreed that the suffering economy was a factor but also complimented the "great team of admission officers" whose job it was to recruit students from regional high schools. Fritschner said she was hopeful the trend of increased enrollment would continue. \n"We have a summer school task force to think about our summer scheduling," Fritschner said. "We hope to match and increase enrollment next year."\nIUPUI experienced the most significant change, as summer enrollment increased by 6.8 percent from a year ago to 12,096 students. Undergraduate enrollment at IUPUI went up by 3.1 percent and full-time graduate enrollment rose by 50.4 percent. IUB enrollment decreased by 0.7 percent to 9,031 but it remained close to last year's record-breaking enrollment of 9,091 students. Graduate enrollment at IUB increased by 1.7 percent as well as professional enrollments, which went up 1.3 percent. \nCoyne said he was optimistic about next year's summer but wary of the sluggish economy. \n"If the economy continues to slump, there may be a negative reaction. People may be afraid to spend money on education," he said.\nIncreased enrollment has not presented itself as an overpopulation problem on campus, as many students said they have not even noticed the high levels of students. \n"I haven't really noticed a change in enrollment since campus is pretty empty," said senior Jon Berbari, who has taken classes at Bloomington the past three summers.