UWF Begins Fall Semester with Record Enrollment of 12,823
With the three-day closure due to Hurricane Isaac, the University of West Florida officially opened its doors yesterday to a record breaking 12,823 students. With an overall increase of 6.6%, the university is now home to more than 800 additional students from last year’s 12,000 students. Last fall, the university surpassed its goal of reaching 12,000 students by 2012, a year ahead of schedule.
With the three-day closure due to Hurricane Isaac, the University of West Florida officially opened its doors yesterday to a record breaking 12,823 students. With an overall increase of 6.6%, the university is now home to more than 800 additional students from last year’s 12,000 students. Last fall, the university surpassed its goal of reaching 12,000 students by 2012, a year ahead of schedule.
The freshman class specifically has also seen dramatic growth over last fall. The total freshman population is 1,847, showing an increase of 26% (384 students). Additionally, 40% of the freshman class is ethnically diverse, which is a 50% increase from last year.
“The opening of the Fall semester is a special time for universities,” said President Judy Bense. “It marks the beginning of a new academic year; and Fall 2012 will be remarkable for UWF. Today we welcome historic enrollment, historic diversity of our freshman class, and overflowing residence halls. UWF is becoming a first choice school thanks to our quality faculty and staff.”
The university welcomed 2,144 students to on-campus housing last Friday, reaching 107% capacity for the Fall 2012 semester. As well, 47 new faculty members were introduced to the university this week.
In addition to record enrollment, the campus continues to transform with the opening of the state-of-the-art College of Business Education Center as well as Bistro Blue, the university’s first-ever restaurant on wheels; Presidents Hall, the latest residence hall and technology enhancements.
The new College of Business Education Center, which opened its doors to students for the first time yesterday, features high-tech classrooms, a real time stock market ticker tape, and flat screen TVs that keep students up to date with the latest business news.
SMART podiums have been installed in 51 classrooms on the Pensacola campus, and in seven classrooms on the Emerald Coast campus. The podiums sync with a computer, allowing faculty to use an electronic pen to write on any Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint file displayed on the board.
