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News Release –
September 2007
University of Rio Grande
Recruits Record Class
The University of Rio
Grande/Rio Grande Community College has one of its largest
freshman classes ever on campus this fall.
The freshmen class increased
by 41 percent over last year, as Rio Grande has 1,374
freshmen on campus this fall, compared to 977 last year.
This class is following
three straight years of setting records for the largest
graduating classes ever and shows the tremendous growth Rio
Grande is seeing.
The overall enrollment at Rio Grande is 2,477 students.
“We did a lot of
aggressive recruiting over the past year,” said Barbara
Hatfield, Ph.D., interim
provost/vice president for academic affairs. “We also
improved the way we packaged financial aid for our
students.” All Rio Grande students have the opportunity to
receive financial aid, and the tuition rates are very
affordable.
“We also have a safe
campus environment,” Hatfield said.
In addition, Rio Grande
has added new academic programs in recent years such as in
allied health, Hispanic studies, archeology (which Rio
Grande offers on the Hocking College campus), wildlife and
fish conservation and management (also on the Hocking
College campus), a cardiovascular concentration in the
sonography program, a bachelor’s degree program in
sonography and a master’s of business administration (MBA)
in entrepreneurship. Rio Grande officials are currently
creating plans for
additional programs.
“Our coaches have also
done an excellent job of making spots for additional
athletes on campus,” Hatfield said. The athletic department
has created additional teams in recent years, which has
opened up new opportunities for students to play college
athletics.
In addition to creating
the new MBA program, Rio Grande has also added to its
master’s of education in classroom teaching program. For
instance, Rio Grande students in the master’s degree program
are now able to take classes from the Southern State
Community College campus through the use of video
conferencing, instead of having to drive all the way to Rio
Grande.
Along with the huge
freshmen class, Rio Grande has also seen an increase in
students living on campus. The residence halls are all
nearly full, which has added to the lively campus
environment.
“It’s been great,”
Hatfield said about having all of the students on campus.
Mark Swann, executive
director of admissions, pointed out that while the freshmen
class is so large, the majority of students still come from
the four county district of Gallia, Jackson, Meigs and
Vinton counties.
“The largest group of students comes from Gallia County,
followed closely by Jackson, then Meigs, and then Vinton
County,” Swann said.
Rio Grande also has students from 16 different countries are
studying on campus this fall.
Swann said that while the
enrollment is growing, students are still attracted to the
smaller classes and personal attention they receive at Rio
Grande. “It’s a
place where everybody knows your name,” Swann said.
He added that the
opportunity for every student to receive some type of
financial aid is also attracting new students, along with
the high quality of the growing academic programs.
The Rio Grande admissions
counselors have done an excellent job of telling students
about all of the opportunities available at Rio Grande,
Swann said. In addition to attracting students from the
four-county district, the institution is also bringing in a
large number of students from the Columbus area and all
around Ohio. The
freshmen class also has students from 13 other states, with
the largest groups coming from West Virginia and Kentucky.
Rio Grande is now
developing a new strategic plan to best deal with the
increased enrollment this year, and the expected increases
in future years. The campus is already expanding its
facilities, highlighted by the expansion project currently
going on at the Davis University Center.
Swann’s admissions
counselors are already out spreading the word about Rio
Grande to high school students across the region looking
into colleges for next year, and Swann said the goal is to
increase the 2008 freshmen class by an additional 10
percent.
For more information on the increased enrollment at Rio
Grande, call the admissions office at 1-800-282-7201. For
additional information on the wide variety of academic and
professional programs offered by Rio Grande, log onto
www.rio.edu. |
