TJC tops 12K for first time, as UT Tyler has largest class of freshmen

Published 3:25 am Friday, September 14, 2018

Both Tyler Junior College and the University of Texas at Tyler are celebrating enrollment milestones.

For the first time ever, TJC saw its enrollment climb above 12,000 students. The 12,270 students enrolled for the fall 2018 semester easily surpassed last fall’s 11,511 students and broke the college’s previous record of 11,881 in fall 2011.

“It’s exciting to break previous records and set new ones,” Chancellor and CEO Dr. Mike Metke said, “but most of all I’m proud that we did it the TJC way by enrolling more great, local students than ever before.”

The college said the 7 percent enrollment growth was boosted by several categories of students — transfer students, high school and first-time-in college students — while maintaining strong momentum with continuing and returning students.

“Enrollment is one of the benchmarks that validates the value that students place on an education from our institution,” said Dr. Juan E. Mejia, TJC president for branch locations and district provost. “We are very pleased that TJC continues to attract students, from our communities, who are interested in improving their futures and that of their families, especially during a strong economic time.”

Metke said the college scaled back its recruitment efforts from joint visits to major metropolitan areas with other universities and colleges to focus more attention on attracting students from East Texas communities.

“We really zeroed in on our own backyard,” Metke said. “With our revamped recruitment processes and the TJC Promise program that will be a game-changer for high school students in our area, we are creating a college-going culture that will build a strong local workforce and a strong East Texas.”

The emphasis on recruiting in this region paid off. TJC has 3,358 first-time college students enrolled, which is an increase of 420 students from last fall.

Metke also said the freshman class has more high-achieving students than ever before, with entering students with a 3.0 GPA or better growing from 50 percent to 70 percent over the past decade. The number of students who earned distinguished achievement high school diplomas also grew from 2 percent to 49 percent over that same time period.

“This is an extremely proud day for all of us,” Metke said. “These future graduates will stay in our area to fill the skilled jobs that are needed for the future well-being of our region and for each of us.”

UT TYLER

The University of Texas at Tyler kicked off the fall semester by enrolling its largest-ever freshman class.

UT Tyler announced it has enrolled 882 first-time, full-time students, up 24 percent from the 711 enrolled last fall, according to a news release from the university.

Total fall 2018 enrollment is 10,284 students. While undergraduate enrollment saw a 2 percent increase, graduate and dual

credit programs saw a slight decline, leaving the college down just a bit from its record of 10,527 students last fall.

“The UT Tyler value proposition is bringing University of Texas excellence with a personal focus on individual student success. It’s a combination students and parents are responding to,” said Lucas Roebuck, vice president for marketing.

Roebuck said the college has focused recruiting on bringing in high performing high school seniors, especially from schools in the region.

The college attributed the graduate level dip to a tight labor market.

“A tight labor market always makes graduate school a harder sell,” said Dr. Amir Mirmiran, provost and chief academic officer. “Considering how hot the job market is right now, the fact that our graduate numbers have remained essentially flat is impressive.”

The college also welcomed 1,164 transfer students. In all, the more than 10,000 students will take a record 106,505 credit hours this fall.