TAMIU Posts Record Enrollment, SCH Growth for Fall 2004

In official numbers reported to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Texas A&M International University has posted a 4.75 percent increase in student enrollment and a 9 percent increase in semester credit hours (SCH)...meaning more students are enrolling for more classes.

Total enrollment for Fall 2004 is 4,272 students with SCH at 43,335. Fall 2003 enrollment was 4,080 with an SCH of 39,178.

Dr. Ray Keck, TAMIU president, said the increases bode especially well for the University as it readies for the opening of the Legislative Session.

"As we return with our legislative team to Austin to try to secure and expand funding for the University, being able to show continued increases in SCH help us to make a strong case for our state budget. The headcount, however, is not keeping pace with previous years' enrollment gains. This is a sobering reflection of mandated tuition increases and a reduced scholarship pool. The students are there, but we will have to identify more resources to get them here," Dr. Keck explained.

Undergraduate students number 3,333, or 78 percent of students while graduate students number 939 or 22 percent of students. Of those seeking graduate degrees, 52 percent also hold undergraduate degrees from TAMIU.

Keck said the University's growth is both aggressive and responsive.

"Clearly, our growth in programs shows the University is continuing to be responsive to local, regional and international students who want to improve their lives through higher education. With expanded residential living options, a degree inventory that includes 75 undergraduate, graduate or doctoral programs and an impressive athletics program, the University is poised for continued greatness," Keck said.

Next year, the University will celebrate its 35th anniversary and its 10th anniversary at its 300-acre campus in northeast Laredo.

Keck provided additional information on the Fall 2004 class:

The most popular undergraduate majors are early childhood education, criminal justice, nursing and business administration.

The most popular graduate majors are nursing, criminal justice, school counseling and curriculum and instruction.

The college with the highest enrollment is the College of Arts and Sciences.

The overall average student age is 26 with undergraduates averaging 24 and graduates 32. The University's youngest student is 15 while the oldest is 73.

Female students outnumber males 64 percent to 36 percent and 91percent of students identify themselves as minority, including Hispanic, African-American, Asian and Other.

While 84 percent of students come to the University from Webb County, the University is seeing increases in enrollment from Bexar, Jim Hogg, LaSalle, Maverick and Zapata counties.

Some 23 different countries are represented in the total student population with 5.3 percent of TAMIU students identified as International. The student traveling the furthest to attend TAMIU this Fall is from Kenya.

Expanded on-campus housing now sees over 280 students living on campus. A new residential learning community opened this Fall and has the capacity to house over 400 students.

Also expanded on campus has been the availability of a childcare center, which now serves over 60 children of TAMIU students.

Registration for the Spring Semester 2005 begins Nov. 15.

For additional information, please contact the Office of Public Affairs and Information Services at 326.2180.

University office hours are from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday - Friday.