The College of Arts and Sciences has plans to increase student enrollment within the next five years.

Due to a decrease in enrollment  in the college over the past three years, a plan has been created to increase first-year student enrollment, William Falls, dean of CAS, said.  

The decline in enrollment can be connected to the most recent recession and students leaning toward pre-professional degrees instead of ones in liberal arts, Falls said.

“Since the great recession of many years ago there’s been a downward pressure on the College of Arts and Sciences,” he said. “By some measures our enrollments are down between 15-20 percent over that peak time about a decade ago.”

This year there were 1,225 first-year students enrolled in the college, Falls said. Over the next five years they hope to increase this number to 1,350.

Part of the goal is to determine a financially sustainable number of both faculty and students in the college, he said.
“Our strategy in the college is to right size it and that involves strategic hiring of faculty,” Falls said.