Enrollment for Eastern Michigan University’s 2011 fall semester stands at 14,576 compared to 14,351 last year at this time, according to a report from the division of enrollment.
According to Kevin Kucera, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment at EMU, the admissions office has already begun preparing for this increase.
One of the biggest tasks for admissions is Fast Track. Each Fast Track session accommodates approximately 120 people, including both parents and students. To create more availability for parents and students, an extra fast track date has been added for a Saturday in July when students are out of school and parents have the day off work.
”It’s easier for families to actually get here,” Christopher LaRusso, Associate Director of Admissions, said.
While returning people who are attending school to seek second degrees or who have previously dropped out are not required to undergo Fast Track a second time, they might undergo the Return to Learn Program, designed to assist people who have been out of school for a longer period of time.
Once students are admitted, it is equally important that they remain, Kucera said.
“You’ve agot a lot of programs designed to get students involved,” he said.
Kucera said many parents and students are attracted by EMU’s wide variety of programs — currently there are 200. The programs are helpful for students who decide to change their major while enrolled at EMU, or people returning to school to get second degrees.
The top five cities newly registered students are coming from are currently Detroit, Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, Canton and Livonia.
Of the approximately 900 foreign exchange students, the top feeding countries into EMU are China and India. According to Kucrea, as aspects of capitalism are being weaved into the Chinese economy, Chinese students are becoming more interested in attending Western schools. Students from India, which is becoming a more technological country, are attracted to the school of technology.
Students applying to Eastern are expected to meet minimum requirements.
“We look at both the GPA and the ACT score,” Kucera said. “You typically will not find a student below a 2.3.”
The greatest number of out-of-state students registering for fall semester is currently from Illinois which is expected to rise by 72 percent, with the second greatest increase being from Ohio, which is projected to increase by 40 percent.
Eastern allows applicants to register for summer and fall semesters until the start of the summer semester.
