UHDS News

[October 2, 2013 — OSU News and Communications ]

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Classes began this week at Oregon State University, and campus officials say they expect about 24,600 students on the main campus in Corvallis this fall.

Another 3,420 students are expected to enroll at OSU through Ecampus, the university’s distance learning program, which has fueled much of the institution’s enrollment growth over the past two to three years. The number of Ecampus students is up an estimated 24 percent over last year.

Overall, Oregon State expects to serve more than 28,000 students this fall term – an all-time record. An additional 900 students are expected to enroll at the OSU-Cascades campus in Bend. Final enrollment numbers will be available from the Oregon University System at the end of the fourth week of fall term.

Although OSU’s overall growth is significant, a smaller increase is projected on the Corvallis campus – part of an enrollment management strategy, according to university officials.

“Our growth this year is right in line with the university’s plan to strategically manage enrollment,” said Kate Peterson, OSU’s assistant provost for enrollment management. “We want to continue to be accessible to Oregonians, increase our international enrollment and become even more diverse, yet moderate the growth on our Corvallis campus.”

Lisa Templeton, executive director of Ecampus, said the increase in distance learning students continues a trend that has seen rapid growth for several years. OSU has been cited as one of the nation’s top 25 online universities for four consecutive years.

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