THIBODAUX \u2014 Two new academic programs introduced at ÐÓ°É´«Ã½ this spring attracted more than double the number of students expected. ÐÓ°É´«Ã½ Online, a program offering seven online degrees, has 77 students enrolled this semester, and a new online Master of Science in Nursing program started with 24 students.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have such high interest in these programs, before we\u2019ve even heavily marketed them, is incredibly promising,\u201d said Dr. Allayne Barrilleaux, vice president for academic affairs. \u201cWith the pilot launch of ÐÓ°É´«Ã½ Online, we didn\u2019t expect enrollment to jump that quickly. The need in the region for high-quality online degree options is even greater than we thought. ÐÓ°É´«Ã½ Online is attracting mostly nontraditional students \u2014 many who already have some college credit \u2014 who could not have finished their degree through the traditional route. Our faculty are pulling together to meet this demand and are excited about future growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
As projected due to higher admission standards and better graduation rates, overall ÐÓ°É´«Ã½ enrollment is down slightly at 6,003 \u2014 a 1.4 percent decline since last spring. The decreased enrollment comes exclusively from part-time students (down by 90); the number of full-time students slightly increased (up by five).<\/p>\n
Compared to last spring, this semester\u2019s freshman enrollment increased by 1.8 percent due to improved retention and a larger fall 2012 incoming class. About 88 percent of fall 2012\u2019s first-time freshmen returned this spring, which is a 2.4 percentage point increase over last year\u2019s retention rate. ÐÓ°É´«Ã½ also retained all 30 of its Valedictorian Scholarship students from last fall.<\/p>\n
In their continued efforts to boost student enrollment, administrators are working on several new initiatives. Next month, ÐÓ°É´«Ã½ will break ground on a new facility for the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute, which will allow the program to increase its enrollment from about 300 to more than 500 culinary students. This fall, the university\u2019s College of Business Administration will introduce a maritime management degree concentration through a partnership with the maritime industry, including some of the world\u2019s largest maritime firms.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor ÐÓ°É´«Ã½ to remain competitive, we must continue to evolve and offer new degree programs that meet the demands of students and employers,\u201d said Dr. Stephen T. Hulbert, university president. \u201cAttracting and serving new student populations is what will help generate much-needed revenue for ÐÓ°É´«Ã½ and ensure a strong future for this regional university.\u201d<\/p>\n
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THIBODAUX \u2014 Two new academic programs introduced at ÐÓ°É´«Ã½ this spring attracted more than double the number of students expected. ÐÓ°É´«Ã½ Online, a program offering seven online degrees, has 77 students enrolled this semester, and a new online Master of Science in Nursing program started with 24 students. \u201cTo have such high interest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,12,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-nicholls","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n