ATHENS, Ga. – The University of Georgia’s final fall enrollment numbers are in and, as expected, the total is the highest in history with 33,878 students registered for classes.
The total includes 32,808 students attending classes on the UGA campus, 820 students attending the Gwinnett University Center and 21 students enrolled in UGA’s new Tifton center. An additional 229 students are enrolled in independent study courses.
The 32,808 attending regular classes in Athens falls within the two percent variance of UGA’s on-campus enrollment target of 32,500 set by the University System Board of Regents.
This fall’s enrollment is 2.8 percent (937 students) above fall 2002 and is the seventh straight year fall enrollment has set a new record.
UGA officials expected a record enrollment due to a larger-than-anticipated freshman class, stepped-up recruitment of graduate students and a big jump in attendance at the Gwinnett University Center.
The total enrollment includes 5,236 students classified as new freshmen, the largest number of new first-year students ever enrolled in one semester. UGA had an unusually high enrollment rate for accepted freshmen this year, plus twice as many transient freshmen as last year, resulting in an increase of 404 students over freshman enrollment in fall 2002.
Total enrollment at the undergraduate level this fall is 24,977, up only one percent (253 students) from last year. However, graduate enrollment climbed 5.5 percent to 6,290. Officials said these totals reflect progress in the university’s goal of increasing graduate enrollment as part of an overall enrollment management strategy. Enrollment in the professional schools of law, pharmacy and veterinary medicine totals 1,541, a 2.9 percent increase.
The number of students attending UGA classes at the Gwinnett University Center leaped 48.3 percent to 820, up 267 from last fall. The total includes 632 graduate students and 188 undergraduates. UGA offers graduate programs at the center in education, business, food science and technology and public administration.
UGA offers six bachelor’s degrees through the center including programs in business, science and education. An undergraduate degree in social work will be added in 2004.
Twenty-one students are enrolled in classes at the Tifton center, a joint program started this year by UGA and Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College located in Tifton. The four-year degree program in agriscience and environmental systems leads to a bachelor’s degree in agriculture.
The 33,878 is a “head count” – the number of people who registered for one or more classes for this semester. Many of these students are not taking a full course load of 15 credit hours.
The equivalent full-time (EFT) enrollment for fall is 31,688. EFT converts the head-count number into a figure that indicates what enrollment would be if the entire head count were taking full course loads. UGA and all institutions in the University System of Georgia receive state funding based on a formula calculated on EFT. The EFT for fall last year was 30,762.
