Enrollment for the spring semester has seen a slight increase compared with previous years, said Kevin Thomas, associate vice president for enrollment management.

“In enrollment, we look at year-to-year comparisons,” Thomas said. “Our student credit hour production is also a positive bit of news as we saw an increase in credit hour production — 109,272 in spring 2024 compared with 108,352 a year ago — an increase of just under 1%. 

“And within this, we saw an increase in first-year UCA students returning to campus for their second semester — up 1.08% from a year ago. All great news,” he said. 

According to UCA Institutional Research, spring credit hour enrollment has decreased by 10.18% since 2020.

• In spring 2020, student credit hours measured 121,658.

• In spring 2021, student credit hours measured 113,007.

• In spring 2022, student credit hours measured 109,767.

• In spring 2023, student credit hours measured 108,352.

• In spring 2024, student credit hours measured 109,272.

Student semester credit hours in spring 2024 is the first increase UCA has seen for the spring since 2020. The biggest decrease was between 2020 and 2021, with a 7.11% decline. 

However, UCA has seen an increase in student credit hours compared with last spring — a 0.85% increase.

According to UCA Institutional Research, the number of students enrolled in the spring semester has declined by 9.2% since spring 2020.

• In spring 2020, student enrollment was at 9,802.

• In spring 2021, student enrollment was at 9,251. 

• In spring 2022, student enrollment was at 9,055.

• In spring 2023, student enrollment was at 8,900.

• In spring 2024, student enrollment was at 8,898.

Thomas said, “Our spring 2024 to spring 2023 comparison has us incredibly similar to last year.” According to the Institutional Research, UCA enrollment went down by just 2 students compared with last year — a less than 1% decrease.

Thomas said that many higher education institutions are facing an enrollment cliff.

“I would state that I am not certain that enrollment is in decline but that UCA is doing well in a very new reality,” Thomas said. “As you may know, higher education as a whole is facing an enrollment cliff. There will be fewer high school graduates in future years than there would have been in previous years.

“So will institutions see a different form of normalizing? Probably so. Beyond the enrollment cliff, more high school students are choosing to be ‘non-consumers’ of higher education. Those factors are leading to varying enrollment successes on college campuses.” Thomas said.

“For UCA, we are doing very well. We continue to have the second-largest freshman class in the state of Arkansas. We have been bringing in top graduate student enrollment for UCA. And when factoring in strong transfer and returning students to campus, we are having a good year,” he said.

Despite the projected enrollment cliff, other Arkansas universities are seeing increases in spring semester enrollment. 

According to the Arkansas State University System, spring enrollment at Arkansas State University-Jonesboro increased 11% — “a record 13,896 students compared with spring 2023.”

The University of Arkansas reported 30,392 enrolled students for spring 2024, “a 4.7% increase from the previous spring.”

Thomas said it is very early to know what enrollment numbers for fall 2024 will look like, but the outlook is good. 

“We have had a good year of students applying, being admitted, and very recently beginning to sign up for SOAR,” Thomas said. “Those are good indicators that we are going to see another strong class here at UCA.”

Thomas said UCA Commitment — the university’s debt-free path for Pell-eligible students or students from households that make less than $100,000 annually — has greatly impacted the projected enrollment for first-year students. 

“The impact of UCA Commitment on our incoming class of students is very real. We hear often from high school counselors and families in Arkansas that this effort is going to provide a lightening of the financial burden they will face when considering college,” he said. “Regardless of UCA Commitment or not, students should feel confident in their choice to be at UCA. While there is a lot of noise regarding FAFSA and all of its impacts, the truth is that we are going to be working with each family and each student to ensure we can support their educational journey here at UCA.”