Kansas State University can add another point of pride to its successes throughout the past 150 years: a record spring enrollment and a more multinational student body than ever before.
The university, which is celebrating its sesquicentennial, has 23,180 students enrolled for the spring semester — up more than 650 students from spring 2012.
“Spring enrollment is a reflection of how the previous semester went for students, especially freshmen, and we’re delighted by the results,” said Pat Bosco, vice president for student life and dean of students. “The substantial increases in enrollment and students of color demonstrate the commitment of faculty and staff to students’ success, and to the recruiting and retention efforts of programs such as the PILOTS Program, Developing Scholars Program, McNair Scholars Program, Diverse Success, MAPS and Multicultural Engineering Program.”
Of the more than 23,000 enrolled students this spring, 3,187 are multicultural. The university has 937 students who identify themselves as black; 1,201 as Hispanic or Latino; 342 as Asian; 96 as American Indian; 36 as Hawaiian/Pacific Islander; 575 as multiracial; and 425 as another ethnicity or culture.
“Our multicultural enrollments continue to set records because of our outstanding, best-practice recruiting and retention efforts,” said Myra Gordon, associate provost for diversity. “These initiatives are exposing thousands of multicultural students to K-State and the opportunities the university has for students to become scholars and leaders.”
Additionally, 2,090 international students made Kansas State University their school of choice for the spring. China is the top country represented, with India, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, South Korea, Kuwait, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Japan and Iran rounding out the Top 10.
Spring’s records follow several milestones set by the fall 2012 numbers, including Kansas State University having more enrolled undergraduates than any other state university and remaining the No. 1 choice for Kansas high school seniors.
