Louisiana Student Enrollment 1901-2024

[RaginCajun77]

Admitting to college young people who have a low probability of finishing is not inclusion and giving everyone a shot. It’s a strategy to collect a quick buck and keep enrollment numbers high. Your admission standards should match the academic standards you expect throughout the collegiate experience. Anything else and you’ve left the realm of education and entered into thievery.

I wish it were that cut and dry. However, there are numerous factors that impact the probability of finishing college. I think first generation college students should receive additional layers of support. We should also examine how many students actually get monetary support from home vs. working 30 or more hours a week and how it impacts their performance in the classroom. Professors should schedule office hours with students who are struggling in their courses to offer assistance. Finally, I've seen two articles regarding substance use on campus at Tulane and LSU. What does substance use look like at UL and how does it correlate to retention problems?

[zeppelincajun]

I wish it were that cut and dry. However, there are numerous factors that impact the probability of finishing college. I think first generation college students should receive additional layers of support. We should also examine how many students actually get monetary support from home vs. working 30 or more hours a week and how it impacts their performance in the classroom. Professors should schedule office hours with students who are struggling in their courses to offer assistance. Finally, I've seen two articles regarding substance use on campus at Tulane and LSU. What does substance use look like at UL and how does it correlate to retention problems?

I am 100% for offering every bit of assistance you can to students once they are on your campus. However, this notion that everyone should get a shot at college is a scam. You have kids who are better suited to trades being told a lie that they NEED to go to college who put themselves in significant debt after being sold this notion. For the students who aren’t up to snuff coming in, we have a community college 5 minutes from our campus that they can be redirected to to start their college career.

[HoustonCajun]

Are you looking at enrollment, or attendance?

We want to be careful to keep things in context, and look at the big picture. In the past couple of decades:

1. We built a community college system in the region, which pulled down our enrollment.

2. We implemented increasingly higher enrollment standards, which pulled down our enrollment.

3. College tuitions have increased more than an order of magnitude, which pulled down our enrollment.

And yet:

1. Our enrollment is still growing... to the point that we can't handle more freshmen (we had to rent some hotels, remember?)

2. The quality of our students is climbing steadily.

3. Our governmental support is skyrocketing.

4. We made R1.

5. Our research funding is growing faster than almost anyone else in the country, and we are now the research leader among Louisiana public universities (yes, including LSU).

6. Our graduate programs are growing quickly, and we're closing in on SREB Doctoral 1.

7. Our campus, including our athletics facilities, is expanding and improving constantly.

8. Our athletics programs reach the top 25 more and more frequently.

9. And somehow, out of the blue, our conference jumped from the dregs of Division 1, to the top of the midmajors.

There are only 2 public universities in the state that are in a solid financial situation: Louisiana, and LSU.

Again, keep things in context. We have been building this University for over 125 years. And as I have noted before, we have slowly outpaced all the schools that were once our peers, and rivals. We did all of that with vision, hard work, and patience.

And we ain't through, yet.

According to a previous post, enrollment seems to have plateaued at just over 19,400 in 1999-2020. You commented:

Our enrollment is still growing... to the point that we can't handle more freshmen (we had to rent some hotels, remember?)

Is UL purposely limiting increased enrollment because of housing issues on/off campus?

In a previous post, I mentioned "on-line" learning and whether or not students enrolled in even 1 "on-line" class are included in enrollment. I would suspect not, as enrollment peaked in 2019-20 while "on-line" learning seems to be exploding on many campuses in recent years. I have to believe that schools showing enrollment of 40,000 - 50,000+ students have a huge percentage of those as "on-line" students. If a student is enrolled in just one class, "on-line" or "in-person', that student should be counted towards enrollment. Is it? If not, why not? How important are enrollment numbers? Seems to be an impressive statistic when schools are mentioned like Texas State with over 40,000 students.

We have some remarkable academic achievements. Yet, there seems to be very little marketing done to get that message out, at least to the general public. We certainly miss a great opportunity locally and nationally on our football telecasts. Instead of showcasing UL's campus, academic accomplishments (particularly achieving R1 status and research) and athletic facilities and encouraging enrollment, we show a lame UL commercial about a ballet dancer who has a dream which says nothing about UL other than she can get a diploma there. That commercial has been running for 2 years. In my opinion, a hugely lost opportunity to showcase our great university.

[RaginCajun77]

I am 100% for offering every bit of assistance you can to students once they are on your campus. However, this notion that everyone should get a shot at college is a scam. You have kids who are better suited to trades being told a lie that they NEED to go to college who put themselves in significant debt after being sold this notion. For the students who aren’t up to snuff coming in, we have a community college 5 minutes from our campus that they can be redirected to to start their college career.

This is where high schools need to evolve. Guidance counselors should be meeting with students to assess their performance, interests, and abilities. Junior and Senior year of high school should place students in tracts for those that are college bound or trades bound.

[Boomer]

This is where high schools need to evolve. Guidance counselors should be meeting with students to assess their performance, interests, and abilities. Junior and Senior year of high school should place students in tracts for those that are college bound or trades bound.

……As far as our present enrollment……just do the HUD remarks……Our enrollment 20 thousand!

[R1Letterman]

Does UL wave out of state tuition fees for legacy generational sudents?

I thought it was for all dependents of graduates.

[R1Letterman]

Yes. Children of grads. Not grandchildren. Rats for one of my kids. Miss St.
Also UL, like most schools, give active duty folks in state tuition. Miss St gives dependents of any active duty parents in state tuition. We should too.

Bump

[HoustonCajun]

……As far as our present enrollment……just do the HUD remarks……Our enrollment 20 thousand!

We are close enough to 20,000 and I have a feeling UL doesn't count "on-line" class enrollees as part of the enrollment, so why not? The larger enrollment number goes well with our R1 classification. Notice that any time a university is mentioned as a potential conference addition, its enrollment is always mentioned. Perception-wise, I see 20,000 enrollment is a minimum standard for a big-time college. I don't know if it really matters, but fudging enrollment slightly to 20,000 might help change the perception of UL.

[Turbine]

The column on the left is pretty much the students who are on campus on a regular basis.

YEAR	Earning Degree	Total Enrolled
1901-1902	145
1902-1903	182
1903-1904	190
1904-1905	250
1905-1906	239
1906-1907	275
1907-1908	265
1908-1909	275
1909-1910	301
1910-1911	251
1911-1912	290
1912-1913	314
1913-1914	340
1914-1915	368
1915-1916	372
1916-1917	322
1917-1918	307
1918-1919	414
1919-1920	277
1920-1921	280
1921-1922	503
1922-1923	556
1923-1924	586
1924-1925	618
1925-1926	720
1926-1927	750
1927-1928	787
1928-1929	838
1929-1930	869
1930-1931	918
1931-1932	906
1932-1933	989
1933-1934	955
1934-1935	996
1935-1936	1,064
1936-1937	1,198
1937-1938	1,409
1938-1939	1,867
1939-1940	2,403
1940-1941	2,354
1942-1942	2,340
1942-1943	1,962
1943-1944	1,677
1944-1945	1,363
1945-1946	1,108
1946-1947	3,167
1947-1948	3,401
1948-1949	3,370
1949-1950	2,811
1950-1951	2,556
1951-1952	2,386
1952-1953	2,679
1953-1954	2,824
1954-1955	3,240
1955-1956	3,843
1956-1957	4,026
1957-1958	4,182
1958-1959	4,562
1959-1960	4,704
1960-1961	4,910
1961-1962	5,549
1962-1963	5,969
1963-1964	6,020
1964-1865	6,912
1965-1966	8,447
1966-1967	9,073
1967-1968	9,332
1968-1969	10,023
1969-1970	10,051
1970-1971	10,275
1971-1972	10,730
1972-1973	11,436
1973-1974	11,454
1974-1975	11,572
1975-1976	12,380
1976-1977	12,895
1977-1978	13,318
1978-1979	13,010
1979-1980	13,341
1980-1981	13,865
1981-1982	15,493
1982-1983	15,729
1983-1984	16,266
1984-1985	16,351
1985-1986	16,291
1986-1987	15,610
1987-1988	15,452
1988-1989	15,037
1989-1990	15,515
1990-1991	15,826
1991-1992	16,205
1992-1993	16,652
1993-1994	16,586
1994-1995	16,789
1995-1996	16,902
1996-1997	16,742
1997-1998	17,020
1998-1999	16,933
1999-2000	16,351
2000-2001	15,742
2001-2002	15,489
2002-2003	16,006
2003-2004	16,208
2004-2005	16,561
2005-2006	17,075
2006-2007	16,303
2007-2008	16,355
2008-2009	16,320
2009-2010	16,361	NA
2010-2011	16,763	NA
2011-2012	16,885	NA
2012-2013	16,687	NA
2013-2014	16,647	18,235
2014-2015	17,195	18,796
2015-2016	17,508	19,033
2016-2017	17,614	19,188
2017-2018	17,297	19,291
2018-2019	17,123	19,387
2019-2020	16,934	19,403
2020-2021	16,450	19,178
2021-2022	16,225	19,203
2022-2023	15,219	18,864
2023-2024	15,345	19,056
2024-2025	15,665	19,213

[NewsCopy]

2024 is 35th largest student body ever.