TAMIU Posts Slight Enrollment, SCH Growth for Fall 2005

In official numbers reported to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Texas A&M International University has posted a one percent increase in student enrollment and a 2.5 percent increase in semester credit hours (SCH)... meaning more students are enrolling for more classes.

Total enrollment for Fall 2005 is 4,311, with an SCH of 44,454, slightly up from last Fall’s 4,272 students with SCH at 43,335.

Dr. Ray Keck, TAMIU president, said that while any increase in enrollment is positive, he believes it’s clear that reduced state funding of student assistance programs has impacted enrollment growth.

“This is a simple cause and effect scenario:  whenever costs rise in the form of tuition increases, and available assistance in the form of financial aid and scholarships decreases, we are less able to provide all deserving students with the access to higher education that they deserve.  We simply have to find more ways of ensuring that access is provided.  TAMIU is not unique in this situation and this is being repeated at campuses across the State,” Dr. Keck explained.

This semester at TAMIU, undergraduate students number 3,347, or 78 percent of students while graduate students number 964 or 22 percent of students. Of those seeking graduate degrees, 502 hold undergraduate degrees from TAMIU.

Keck provided additional information on the Fall 2005 class:

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

The most popular graduate majors are education, ed administration, school counseling and business administration.

The College with the highest enrollment is the College of Arts and Sciences with 1,750 students.

The overall average student age is 26 with undergraduates averaging 24 and graduates 32. The University's youngest student is 15, the oldest 74.  The student/teacher ratio is 1:14.

Female students outnumber males 62 percent to 38 percent and 92 percent of all students identify themselves as minority, including Hispanic, African-American, Asian and Other.

While 85 percent of students come to the University from Webb County, 40 different Texas counties are represented. This semester students also come to TAMIU from 18 different states.

Some 32 different countries’ students figure in the total student population with 287 or 6.7 percent of TAMIU students identified as International. Two students from South Africa traveled the furthest to attend TAMIU this Fall.

Expanded on-campus housing now sees more than 373 students living on campus including 201 in the Residential Learning Center and 172 in University Village. 

This year, the University celebrates its 35th anniversary and its 10th anniversary at its 300-acre campus in northeast Laredo.

Registration for the Spring Semester 2006 begins Nov. 14.

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

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

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at prmis@tamiu.edu