By Elise Kidd
At the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, the University of Montevallo’s student population rose to 2,703. The increase in student’s meant the university’s enrollment numbers had risen by 4% since 2019.
Among the total of 2,703 students, 527 are first-year students, which is the largest incoming class the university has seen since 2015.
“The applications process was made easier since the university was test optional, meaning students were not required to submit ACT or SAT scores,” said Audrey Crawford, Director of Admissions for the University of Montevallo.
Crawford said applications for the school year increased by 12% and acceptances were 21% larger than previous admissions rates. The increase in the number of applications caused some challenges for the admissions department throughout the process. Since there were more applications, most challenges concerned the extra time that needed to be spent reviewing them, according to Crawford.
UM President Dr. John Stewart III, said, “Our enrollment trends are indicative of terrific leadership in our enrollment management division, our Falcon Success Center and a remarkably devoted faculty and staff who serve students every day.”
When asked how the rise in student population has affected student life, Director of Student Life, Jenny Bell said, “We are back to the same numbers we had during events in 2019. We’re back to a much more normal school year in terms of events. I think that for sophomores it probably feels like there are so many people since they didn’t get to experience that last year.”
In terms of housing, the number of students living on campus this semester has increased by 0.4%, or four students, since the 2019 fall semester. John Denson, Director of Housing and Residence Life, shared that, compared to the COVID-19 affected 2020 fall semester, student housing has increased by 16%, meaning now 149 more students are living on campus than in fall 2020.
Overall, the University of Montevallo is showing positive growth in enrollment trends this school year.
