The University of Montana in Missoula is trumpeting not only a higher student headcount this semester, but also a record student retention rate.
Over 10,300 students are enrolled at UM this fall.
According to a news release issued Monday, that’s nearly 4% more than fall semester last year and the largest single percentage gain in annual enrollment in 14 years.
UM said the enrollment spike is powered by nearly 1,400 new first-time students, most of whom are Montana residents.
UM officials credit the school’s surge in resident students to an initiative providing resident Montana students whose families earn less than $50,000 annually the opportunity to attend UM tuition free.
UM’s student retention – the rate that students persist between their first and second year – rose to an all-time high of 76% this fall.
UM’s growth wasn’t limited to its main campus. Enrollment at Missoula College, its two-year program, jumped almost 20% over last year.
UM officials said all this growth is helping the university’s bottom line. They said tuition revenue climbed above $43-million, nearly 12% higher than during the same period last fall semester.
Montana State University in Bozeman, meanwhile, announced last week that it set a record this fall with nearly 17,000 students enrolled. That’s up over 2% from last fall. MSU’s previous enrollment record was set in the fall of 2018.
