CMU enrollment drops 7 percent in past year


Fall 2018 enrollment at Central Michigan University was 21,705, dropping 7 percent from Fall 2017. 

CMU's total headcount for Fall 2017 was 23,335. In a press release, University Communications cited declining numbers of Michigan high school seniors as the reason for the decline. 

There were 2,732 new freshman enrolled at CMU in Fall 2018, about 300 fewer than the previous year. A total of 1,056 students were new transfers to the university. The new-student average GPA for Fall 2018 was 3.4, the highest it has ever been, according to the press release. 

International student enrollment dropped to 799, the lowest it has been in the past decade. The highest year for international students was 2015, when there were 1,344 international students at CMU.

Online Global Campus was the only area in the Fall 2018 enrollment report that saw an increase. A total of 8,116 students took online classes in Fall 2018, and there were 41,882 student credit hours earned online. 

There were 16,975 students on CMU's main campus in Fall 2018. Students logged 269,474 total credit hours during the semester, 82 percent of which were on main campus. 

University Communications reported the university's highest-ever multicultural enrollment, at over 21 percent. 

The final Fall 2018 enrollment numbers were released on Jan. 17. CMU is the only one of Michigan's 15 public university that releases its enrollment statistics after the Fall semester, as opposed to the beginning. 

The university's announced enrollment is slightly higher than the Michigan Association of State Universities' preliminary Fall 2018 headcount of 21,605.

CMU had one of the largest enrollment decreases out of the state's 15 public universities from 2017-2018, second only to Eastern Michigan University, which fell by 7.3 percent, according to the MASU report. Only four of the 15 universities experienced an enrollment increase. 

According to the press release, CMU will launch an online bachelor's degree in business administration in Fall 2019 and will expand its online MBA program.

Under President Robert Davies, the university has increased its advising efforts to accelerate retention and graduation, University Communications reported. 

"CMU continues to be a leader in meeting the evolving needs of students and employers," Davies said. "We are holding strong to our commitment to quality; supporting students through to graduation; and preparing them not just for their first jobs, but for their careers."

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