Scenes from first day of the Big Sky Experience at the University of Montana on Aug. 22, 2023. (Provided by the University of Montana)
Montana’s flagship universities both are celebrating enrollment milestones this fall, albeit different ones.
In Bozeman, powerhouse Montana State University said it’s the first university in the history of the state to bring in more than 17,000 students, and it’s the largest in a four-state region that includes Wyoming and the Dakotas.
“Enrollment is perhaps the most highly visible sign of how we are fulfilling Montana State’s land-grant mission to expand higher education access to as many of our citizens as possible,” said MSU President Waded Cruzado in a statement; Cruzado will retire in June 2025. “We celebrate enrollment records because college degrees change lives and because education is the key to individual prosperity and a strong American democracy.”
Tuesday, the University of Montana said it saw a nearly 5% enrollment jump counting Missoula College, the highest increase in 15 years. UM also said it counts 1,450 first-year freshman, the largest incoming class in nine years.
That growth puts the UM headcount at 10,811 this fall, according to census data from UM.
(Screenshot from Montana University System enrollment dashboard.)
Additionally, UM said that since 2021, the year after the Covid-19 pandemic started, UM added more than 1,300 students to its headcount, “the most of any college in Montana.”
“UM is the fastest growing flagship university in Montana,” UM President Seth Bodnar said in a statement. “Our mission is inclusive prosperity, and the growing UM student body mirrors the hard-working people who make up our state. We are proud to be serving increasing numbers of Montanans, first-generation, Native American and veteran students.”
At UM, enrollment is still 41% lower than its peak in 2011, according to a Montana University System dashboard. However, UM spokesperson Dave Kuntz praised the increase this fall as “significantly higher” than other flagships in the region — and as strategic for Montana.
“We have really, especially the last couple of years, accepted the fact that UM is the launch point for so many folks who have just been ignored elsewhere,” Kuntz said.
For example, he said, UM has seen a 15% increase in students who are the first in their families to go to college, and this year, 28% of the total student population are the first to enroll in higher education.
UM pointed to a 10.8% increase in veteran students at 420 total, and an 11.9% jump in Native American students at 839 total.
Kuntz said he would love to see enrollment closer to 16,000, but he also said UM is growing with a laser focus on its mission, and it’s helping students have a successful career and fulfilling life.
“What you’re going to see here at UM as we claw back to where we were is that growth is going to be really strategic for the state and really centered on that mission of access for Montana students,” he said.
In news releases about their fall counts, the flagships showed off different measures when it comes to Montana residents.
UM noted that of its student enrollment, 65.9% are Montana residents. MSU counts 49% as residents, but it noted its count at 8,369 is “the largest number of Montana residents enrolled at any college or university in the state.”
UM highlighted the following data from its fall census:
484 more students this fall compared to last;
A 5.6% increase in first-time freshmen over last fall;
An increase in transfer students to 656 this fall, or 19.3% over 2023;
A 15.7% increase in UM students who are first in their family to attend college; and
An undergraduate headcount made up of 31.6% of students who are eligible for Pell Grants, awarded to those whose families earn significantly less income than the state’s median.
The enrollment boost is helping UM’s budget as well, Kuntz said. He said UM expects to generate roughly $48 million in assessed tuition this year compared to $43 million last year.
In its previous slump in enrollment, UM experienced a decline in faculty members, but this year, Kuntz said the additional revenue allows UM to invest in the campus, possibly in faculty, but definitely in “student-centered, student-success-related positions,” such as academic advisors and financial advisors.
MSU provided the following figures from fall enrollment:
It brought in 3,611 new first-time college students, including 1,497 Montanans;
A record 15,053 undergraduate students and 2,091 graduate students;
A record 856 Native American/Alaska Native students enrolled, a 5% increase from last year;
A record retention rate of 78.4%, which measures the number of students who return for a second fall; and
A 22% increase in Gallatin College MSU at 1,101.
“There is a real sense of energy on campus this fall,” said Robert Mokwa, MSU’s provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, in a statement. “The students are excited to be here to begin their college journeys, and that excitement is due in no small part to the enthusiasm and dedication of our faculty and instructors who work every day to make MSU the best it can be for our students.”