By Lorenzo Salinas

l.v.salinas@panews.com

 

Now more than ever seems to be a good time to learn as enrollment numbers trend upward for Beaumont’s primary place of higher learning.

Despite an initial Harvey-related slump, Lamar University is seeing more students enroll in its courses than in several years prior.

“As for enrollment numbers, we have seen significant increases over the past decade or so,” Daniel McLemore, associate director of marketing communications, said. “In the fall of 2004, we had just under 11,000 students. Compare that with fall of 2017 and we were at 14,506.”

McLemore credited much of that growth to the expansion of the university’s offering of online degrees.

“Lamar University has also brought many of the degrees we offered on campus into a fully online platform as well as develop new program offerings,” McLemore said.

The university offered two online programs of study in 2004; this year it is offering more than 50 online programs.

“LU also has nearly a dozen new programs in the works that will be launched in the coming years both in an online and an on-campus capacity,” McLemore said.

Still, Lamar University saw a drop in fall enrollment last year after the natural disaster that was Harvey.

“Our growth was slowed in the fall of 2017 due in large part to Hurricane Harvey’s impact,” McLemore said. “The timing of the storm’s landfall was a big factor as it was right at the beginning of the fall semester.”

“We’ve seen some enrollment decline from fall to spring, from spring to spring,” Brian Sattler, director of public relations, said. “You could easily point to Harvey, but there are a thousand stories that contribute to it, too.”

Total enrollment for Spring 2018 was 13,139, which is a 6.8 percent drop from last year’s spring semester of 14,103.

Enrollment decline was spread across all the colleges with the exception of the College of Business, which was up 2.1 percent — or 29 students (from 1,379 to 1,408 for the spring semesters).

“LU’s current enrollment number reflects what many in our community are experiencing while in recovery mode,” Kenneth Evans, president, said. “The flooding was widespread as everyone in Southeast Texas knows and deeply affected our students as well as our faculty and staff.”

New courses and expanded curriculum were some of the reasons both McLemore and Sattler attributed to an overall increase in student enrollment.

“LU just recently launched the Center for Advances in Port Management” McLemore said. “The Department of Industrial Engineering and the College of Business teamed up with waterfront industry professionals to offer courses in port management that lead to a master of science in port and terminal management, master of engineering management with a concentration in port management, master of business administration with a concentration in port management or certifications specializing in port management.”

In spring of last year, the university broke ground on a new science and technology building that McLemore said would play an integral part in even more new program offerings.

“Lamar University’s incoming freshman class and first-time college students have continued to grow year over year,” McLemore said. “This is indicative of the attractiveness and quality of LU degrees offered.”

“The university is rebounding as a whole and will continue the growth we were seeing prior to the storm,” Evans said. “This will be witnessed through our students and their future successes more than anything else.”

Undergraduate enrollment for Lamar University was down 154 males and 195 females from last spring. Post-baccalaureate enrollment was down 38 men but up 10 women. Graduate enrollment was down 312 men and 275 women.

• In spring 2018 there were 3,570 master’s students compared to spring 2017’s 4,080.
• In spring 2018 there were 320 doctoral students compared to spring 2017’s 397.