NEWS

– University reports increases in first-time freshman, transfer, and undergraduate students –

Louisiana Tech University released its fall 2011 enrollment figures Thursday and is reporting their largest freshman class since 2006.  In addition to the increase in freshman enrollment, Tech also reported increases in transfer and undergraduate students.
Total enrollment for Louisiana Tech stands at 11,581 students, which is a decrease of 223, or 1.9 percent from last year.
Master’s level graduate students at Louisiana Tech decreased to 2,144, primarily due to a decrease in part-time extension students whose support grants expired prior to the beginning of the 2011-2012 academic year.  Graduate students at Tech comprise 21.1 percent of the university’s total student population.
Tech reports that 1,632 new freshman have enrolled for the fall 2011 quarter – an increase of two percent over last fall.  Transfer student enrollment increased 12.8 percent to 423, and undergraduate enrollment rose 1.5 percent to 9,137.
Louisiana Tech also saw a significant improvement in the quality of the students it has enrolled for the fall 2011 school year.  The average freshman ACT score is 23.81, which is up from 23.63 in fall of 2010, and is the highest in the university’s history.
“I am delighted to see that we are continuing to attract the highest quality and best prepared students from around the state and the nation,” said Louisiana Tech President Dan Reneau.  “I believe that good students want to go to good schools.  Our incoming students recognize that Louisiana Tech is a university where they’ll receive an outstanding education which will prepare them to be successful people and professionals.”
In addition to its enrollment increases, Louisiana Tech saw an increase in its full-time freshman retention on the main campus with 77.47 percent returning to the university to enroll for the fall 2011 quarter.  This represents a 3.13 percent increase over fall 2010’s retention rate of 74.34 percent.