ESU’s Fall Enrollment Shows Increase In Graduate Admissions, Diversity

Enrollment at East Stroudsburg University for fall 2019 indicates an 11.9 percent increase in its graduate enrollment with continued diversity in its student body. Total enrollment for ESU this fall is 6,214, with the number of students pursuing a graduate degree climbing to 797. The University welcomed 1,551 new freshmen and transfer undergraduate students for fall 2019. Among the top majors of new undergraduate freshmen and transfers are: business management (116), criminal justice (107), biology (105) and psychology (99). ESU students represent 18 different countries and the U.S.; they come from 47 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties as well as 26 other states and Puerto Rico.

The University celebrates its continued enrollment growth from students of color. For fall 2019, 40.3% of all undergraduates identified as a student of color.

“I am extremely proud of the work done by our entire campus to bring in these new and transfer students for fall 2019,” said ESU President Marcia G. Welsh, Ph.D. “There is also a complexity to our student body that goes beyond the numbers. Many of our new students are first-generation. Higher education, with its unique culture, language and history can be difficult for first generation college students to understand. Students whose parents have attended college benefit from their parents’ experiences. These first generation students often lack pre-knowledge of the college experience and have trouble navigating the demands of a college education while often balancing work and family commitments.

“Our challenge this fall was not in the recruitment of new students, but rather in keeping them on our campus,” said Dr. Welsh. “Approximately 200 students, about three percent, did not return. With the number of high school graduates in the Northeast declining, we were thrilled to have relatively level enrollment of first year and transfer students. Administrators, faculty and others made attempts to contact many of those students who did not return this year only to discover that many of them were making this decision based on their increasing financial debt. Additional work is being done by our educators in student billing, financial aid and residence life/dining services to help our students better understand their financial resources and how to use them in order to reduce their challenges based upon expenses and (often) lack of resources.

“We’ve immediately gone into action to help some of these students return to class by working with them to develop payment plans and to remind them of the scholarship opportunities available – in 2018-19 ESU awarded more than $940,000 in scholarships,” added Dr. Welsh. “For us, the students are so much more than an enrollment number – they are our future and we must do everything we can to see them succeed.”

ESU strives to remain one of the most affordable college experiences in Pennsylvania with its WARRIOR Promise, a guaranteed fixed tuition rate that allows students to pay the same tuition rate, without an increase for four years. The WARRIOR Promise allows undergraduate students to complete as many undergraduate degrees, minors and certificates as they choose within a four year window.

Folded into other University initiatives for recruitment and retention, ESU’s Student Success Network is comprised of faculty, staff and administrators from all areas of campus and their charge is to identify student success challenges and develop and implement solutions. In January 2019, ESU launched WARRIORfish, a software program that allows all faculty and staff to quickly respond to students that have expressed a problem or concern. The Student Success Network also works with its Academic Advisory Committee to improve academic advising and remedial pathways for students, and to execute an early intervention process that will ensure students receive assistance before challenges make it too difficult for them to progress.

“The future of students attending East Stroudsburg University is bright,” said President Welsh. “Our institution happens to be located in close proximity to New York City and Philadelphia and we are able to provide convenient access to internships and careers. ESU is the right combination of accessibility, affordability and location for all students to live, learn, work and play.”

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