Tennessee Tech seeing early indications of another enrollment increase for the upcoming fall semester.
Vice President of Enrollment and Communication Karen Lykins said registration for freshman orientation has increased about eight percent over last year. Lykins said ninety-six percent of freshmen who attend orientation return for classes in the fall.
“Overall we’re looking at the student characteristics, right?” Lykins said. “Those who will academically succeed, have a great social time, so it’s gotten to be a very kind of holistic approach to what kind of student that we would recruit.”
Lykins said the university has a similar number of applications from transfer students as seen in the past, but more of them are being admitted than before. Lykins said graduate students are currently applying to Tech at a record rate as well.
“Their cycle is a little bit different so they will continue to apply all during the summer,” Lykins said. “They’re a little bit different from the undergraduate cycle but we are seeing increases in graduate applications also.”
Lykins said local students are a large part of the university, as much of the quantity and quality of Tech’s student body is due to the number of students from the Upper Cumberland. Lykins said the university will not have a specific estimate of how many students are enrolled until freshman orientation wraps up at the end of July.
“You really can’t have your bottom line number until after classes start and then we do an official count (after) fourteen days,” Lykins said. “That’s what every university in Tennessee does.”
Lykins said the university wants students to get out and have a great college career that will set them up for success instead of simply attending the school for its own sake.
“We are certainly looking for the students who we know can succeed at Tennessee Tech and I don’t know that that’s a typical stereotype,” Lykins said. “Certainly it’s a dedicated student, but it’s a multifaceted student, right? Someone who probably works, has great ties to family, may have some financial need or academic quality that makes them interested in scholarships so we really try to serve the whole student.”
