MSU sees highest enrollment in decade

Minnesota State has reached its highest enrollment in over a decade, according to university officials.

MSU’s enrollment now stands at 15,251 students, a 4.1% increase over last year. It’s the 11th largest enrollment in 156 years, making MSU the largest state university in Minnesota. 

Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management David Jones said one of the contributing factors of the enrollment growth is MSU’s academic programs. 

“Whether it’s aviation, nursing or communication, we continue to see growth which is exciting to see,” Jones said. 

Jones said MSU’s programs have also brought in transfer students. The transfer student enrollment now rests at 3,673, a 5.6% increase over last year. Jones said about 40% of students came from the Minnesota State system. While students have transferred from other universities, Jones said the biggest “feeders” are Normandale Community College, Riverland Community College and South Central College. 

Jones also said from spring of 2024 to this fall, the retention rate for first-year undergraduate students was 86.1%, a nearly 86% increase from the previous year. He said a new centralized advising model has been a factor in helping students stay.

“We have greater depth in the event that the advisor you need to talk to is out that day, there’s somebody else who you can still meet with or connect with,” Jones said. 

One of the groups contributing to the large enrollment are Postsecondary Enrollment Option (PSEO) students. There are 1,444 high school students taking college classes through MSU, which is 14.4% more than last year. The new entering first year class totals 2,361 students, the eighth-largest first-year class in 156 years and the second largest class since the pandemic.

Jones said the pandemic helped drive up PSEO enrollment as schools saw disrupted schedules along with MSU’s safety protocols.

“When we were given permission to start doing campus tours, we did them where other institutions didn’t. We started opening things up earlier than others and I think that made a difference when trying to get closer to normality,” Jones said. “Instead of doing remote tours, we did small groups tours to give students the opportunity to check this place out which I think made us more attractive to incoming students.”

Jones said the number of students at MSU is calculated through the 30th Day Enrollment, which counts every student who takes “at least one credit once.” There is also a full year equivalent where it’s all the credits students are taking. All the credits current students are taking are added up and divided by 30 which equals the number of full time students. Jones said this method is “more accurate” for budgeting purposes. 

Jones said the goal is to have 17,000 students attending MSU. With around 2,900 beds in the dorms, talks of planning ahead for future housing developments are already underway.

“It’s not going to be enough,” Jones said. “Residential Life has hired a housing consultant who’s helping us figure out a demand strategy with how much housing we need to add to the inventory to meet all our needs and then figuring out what’s the price point that makes it affordable.”

Jones said he’s “fortunate” to work with faculty focused on students’ experiences.

“It continues to make us noteworthy across all corners of the Midwest that we’re a place that cares about the student development for people to go on and be successful alumni,” Jones said.

Write to Emma.johnson.5@mnsu.edu