Each August, the year’s freshman class steps on campus, fresh into the college scene. When Loyola opened its doors in Spring 2006 after being closed for a semester following Hurricane Katrina, many expressed concern over whether or not enrollment would suffer.
Dropping from an average of 830 to 527 freshmen last year, enrollment did experience a 15 percent decrease. With Hurricane Katrina two years in the past, Admissions hoped that the 2008 school year would see enrollment approaching its previous figures.
When the count was finalized this week, those ambitions remained unfulfilled.
Enrollment figures were almost identical to the ones released for the class of 2010. There are more than 700 new students, including freshmen, readmits and transfers. There are 527 freshmen – the precise number as last year.
The class of 2011 entered Loyola with an average GPA of 3.52. Their standardized test score averages also exceeded national averages with ACT scores ranging from 23-28.
“Do we want to get enrollment back to 830? Absolutely,” said Lori Zawistowski, interim dean of Admissions. “But the type of students also matters. It really does matter. We want good students. We are an academically selective university and therefore have a strong academic profile. Would we sacrifice that to increase the admittance pool? Absolutely not.”
The number of out-of-state students increased from 49 to 54 percent, making this year the first of many in which there are more out-of-state students than local ones. More than half of the population is female with males comprising the remaining 45 percent, and 37 percent of new students are minorities.
While the freshmen numbers are still lower than before the hurricane, graduate enrollment is surpassing expectations with 320 new students compared to last year’s 250.
The 700 new students are joined by 36 new faculty members.
Although enrollment figures remain stagnant, Zawistowski is pleased with them and anticipates growth, she said.
Justin Templet can be reached at [email protected].
