Enrollment up, transfers up, students finishing degrees

Autumn 2010 enrollment at the University of Washington Tacoma rose by 7 percent over 2009, with a new headcount of 3,331 students, compared to last year's headcount of 3,111. This marks the sixth straight year of increases in fall enrollment.

"I am very pleased to see the enrollment increase, as it shows the increase in visibility and desirability of the University of Washington Tacoma," said Lisa Garcia-Hanson, director of admissions. "It's an exciting time to be here!"

The number of transfer applications (undergraduate students applying from community colleges or other universities) was up 6.8 percent over last year. Freshmen applications were level with 2009 numbers.

"We're continuing to see a strong response in applications, particularly among transfer students from Washington community colleges," said Derek Levy, associate vice chancellor for Enrollment Services. "Another small increase in students enrolling full-time also underscores a continuing trend in that direction."

For autumn quarter, 2,395 (71.9 percent) students enrolled full-time, while 936 (28.1 percent) enrolled part-time.

UW Tacoma is experiencing a high percentage of returning students, indicating more students continuing to graduation. Last spring, UW Tacoma's largest graduating class, almost 1,100 students, pushed the campus beyond the the 10,000-graduates milestone.

Some demographics from this autumn's students:

• The entire student body comprises 2,756 (82.7 percent) undergraduate and 575 (17.3 percent) grad students.
• Known as having a diverse student body, UW Tacoma's racial and ethnic diversity increased over last year.
• 32.3 percent of students identified themselves as African American, Native American, Asian American, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, or Hispanic/Latino, a slight increase over last year's 31.05 percent.
• The biggest change was in the number of African American students, which rose from 232 in 2009 to 281 this year.
• UW Tacoma students range in age from 16 to 73.

All students, broken out by age:

• 18-20: just under 20 percent
• 20-24: 31.3 percent
• 25-29: slightly more than 20 percent
• 30 and older: 28.8 percent (up from 27.5 percent last year)