News & Media
UNCG Announces Largest-Ever Enrollment with 20,106 Students!
UNC Greensboro, the Triad’s largest state university, today announced record enrollment for the University’s Fall 2018 Census. It’s the fifth year in a row UNCG has seen enrollment growth. The record enrollment comes in a year of milestones for UNCG, which also graduated its largest ever class in May (more than 2,700 students) and welcomed its biggest-ever freshman class in August (2,979, up 6.7 percent year-to-year).
According to the most recent data, total headcount for the campus reached 20,106, surpassing 20,000 for the first time in the University’s 126-year history. Consistent with its strategy, UNCG realized notable gains of 6.5 percent among rural counties across North Carolina. Among transfer students from community colleges and UNC System institutions, UNCG saw a 2 percent and 10 percent increase, respectively.
Further, student credit hours for those studying at UNCG rose 1.6 percent to a record 224,632. Even more, UNCG’s online distance education programs continue to expand rapidly, with total credit hours leaping 7.2 percent to a record 24,663, as more undergraduate and graduate online programs continue to become available to non-traditional students. Total student credit hours exceeded 250,000 for the first time in school history.
“A tenacious commitment to student success is at the heart of our growth,” said Chancellor Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr. “We are doing a better job of delivering the right resources to students in the right ways. We hired nearly 100 new faculty this year to better serve our students’ scholarly pursuits, without raising tuition. In record numbers, students from a vast array of backgrounds, life experiences, and circumstances are finding their way to UNC Greensboro. They recognize the value we offer, the commitment we have to their success, and our ability to prepare them well to enter the workforce and make a meaningful impact in North Carolina and beyond.”
A key component of the strategic plan for the University focuses on rural outreach, to offer access to underserved areas of North Carolina. These outreach efforts have been effective, with double-digit enrollment gains among students in rural counties: Rockingham (35.3 percent); Randolph (17.1 percent); Alamance (16.7 percent); and Cumberland (11.5 percent).
Additionally, UNCG is fueling new transfer growth through innovative partnerships across the state with community colleges. To date, UNCG has partnered with six local community colleges to co-admit students who then do their first two years at state community colleges and transfer to UNCG, at a significant cost savings. Students have access to UNCG resources, including the Kaplan Center for Wellness, library, career services, tutoring, and more. These new programs, most of which are less than a year old, have seen 2 percent growth to date.
UNCG continues to expand campus infrastructure and amenities to accommodate growth and facilitate an optimal learning environment. The new 180,000-square-foot Nursing and Instructional Building is now under construction on campus and will house the University’s highly-rated School of Nursing as well as science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) classrooms and labs beginning in 2020. This year also brings the addition of the new arts-focused Studio 91 Residence Hall, a $12-million living-learning environment with seven piano practice rooms, a dance studio, art studio, and state-of-the-art computer lab with special keyboards for music composition. Other new additions include four new on-campus restaurants, a new Bestway grocery store, new course offerings, and exercise classes, along with off-campus recreation and retreat venue Piney Lake.
Full census information is available at the Office of Institutional Research website.
