From www.zLaTech.com . . .

Louisiana Tech Sets Three Record Enrollments this Fall
Posted: Thursday, September 19, 2002

Ruston, LA -- Louisiana Tech set three record enrollments this fall, registering 11,280 students overall, 2,074 first-time freshmen and 1,888 graduate students -- the highest totals in the university's 108-year history.

Enrollment for new transfer students also increased.

"We're delighted," Tech President Dan Reneau said. "When we moved to selective admissions several years ago, we wanted to create an environment that would draw the best and brightest of today's young people to our campus. We built it -- and they came."

This year's overall total is up 572 from last fall and 108 from 1983, when the previous record enrollment of 11,172 was set. That's a 5.3 percent jump from 2001.

This year's first-time freshmen total is up 145 from last fall and 29 from 1980, when the previous first-time freshman record of 2,045 was logged. That's a 7.5 percent rise from last year.

The previous record for graduate students -- master's plus doctoral -- was set in 1982 with 1,727.

This is the seventh straight enrollment increase for Tech. Last year the university was up 3.03 percent. The 2002 figures mark a 21.1 percent increase in enrollment since 1996.

"Even with this increase, we are still committed to the personal, involved touch with all our students," said Pamela Ford, dean of enrollment management, marketing and public relations.

Tech's official enrollment figures for the year are based on its ninth-class day enrollment, as mandated by the Board of Regents.

The numbers rank Tech as the largest university in North Louisiana.