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Based on preliminary enrollment figures on opening day of the fall semester at the University of Northern Colorado, projections indicate enrollment is tracking where the university anticipated it to be when the 2019-20 budget was approved in June.

While fall enrollment numbers will fluctuate between now and the official reporting date after the class add-drop deadline in September, totals on the first day of classes are as follows:

• New first-time, full-time undergraduates: 1,810 (-6.6% from Fall 2018 opening)
• New transfer students: 695 (-2% from Fall 2018 opening)
• Continuing degree-seeking undergraduates: 5,927 (-3.9% from Fall 2018 opening)
• Percentage of returning new, first time undergraduates from Fall 2018: 72 (flat from Fall 2017 cohort)
• New first-time graduate students: 964 (+9% from Fall 2018 opening)
• Total undergraduate enrollment: 8,953 (-5.6% from Fall 2018 opening)
  • Undergraduate FTE (total credit hours divided by 15): 7,867 (-3.8% from Fall 2018 opening)
• Total graduate enrollment: 2,822 (-0.4% from Fall 2018 opening)
  • Graduate FTE (total credit hours by 12): 1,578 (-3.2% from Fall 2018 opening)

As planned for in the budget, undergraduate and graduate enrollment are down. The number of continuing students also declined on the first day — primarily because last year’s class was smaller. Also, about 46 percent of new, first-time freshmen attending Â鶹´«Ã½ now enroll with some college credit. That percentage has increased from 38 percent in Fall 2015. 

Based on the opening-day enrollment figures, net student revenue (tuition, fees, room and board) is forecast to be down by about 5 percent ($1.6 million) from what was budgeted. Net student revenue makes up 62 percent of Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s operating revenue.

Last spring, the Strategic Enrollment and Student Success plan was created to address graduation, retention and better support students. Campus action teams started implementing specific tactics this summer and will continue deploying them throughout the academic year. That work will be supported by information gathered through an organizational design project that will inform ways to reduce costs and better support students.