PITT ENROLLMENT CONTINUES TO INCREASE

PITTSBURGH, Oct. 11 -- Total enrollment at the University of Pittsburgh has increased for the third straight year. There are 32,544 students enrolled for the 1999 fall term, an increase of 251, or 0.8 percent, over the fall term of 1998. The University's enrollment had been declining throughout the 1990s, until that trend was reversed in 1997. Since then, total enrollment has increased by 1,149 students, or 3.7 percent, over the 1996 fall term levels.

Undergraduate enrollment was particularly strong, with an increase of 1.4 percent University-wide and an increase of 2.2 percent on the Pittsburgh campus.

The increase in full time equivalent (FTE) students has been even greater, rising by 430, or 1.5 percent, from 28,107 to 28,537. Over the past three years, FTE enrollment has grown by 1,737, or 6.5 percent. The number of FTE students is calculated by adding the number of full-time students to 40 percent of the number of part-time students. The conversion to full-time equivalents is used for budgeting purposes.

Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg attributed the increase to two factors: continuing strong freshman enrollment and systematic investments by the University in the quality of the student experience. "We are seeing, in this growth in enrollment, the results of our broad ranging efforts to enhance the quality of the overall student experience and of the programs we have put in place to help ensure the success of our students," Nordenberg said. "That has helped increase the satisfaction of our current students as well as attract new students. And the new students are, in turn, contributing to making the whole Pitt experience an even more positive one."

He added that the increase in both the number and quality of the freshmen is a clear indication of the growing reputation, both statewide and nationally, of the quality of the academic programs at the University of Pittsburgh.

-30- 10/11/99/shg