USF
Sarasota/Manatee enrollment up nearly 12 percent
New degree
programs help boost student numbers
(Sarasota,
FL, September 5, 2001) – A double digit increase in student
enrollment marks the start of the 2001 Fall Semester at the University of
South Florida Sarasota/Manatee regional campus.
Compared to last fall, 11.6 percent more students are enrolled, for
a total 1,376 on opening day. Fall
classes brought 250 new students to the campus rolls.
Overall growth for all of USF this fall semester is 6.4 percent.
The
Sarasota/Manatee campus growth has been spurred in part by student
interest in new degree programs. For
example, graduate student enrollment is up 50 percent, with 148 students
on the rolls, due to the addition of the Executive MBA program in March of
this year. The graduate
student number is expected to top 175 when off-site programs complete
registration.
USF has
additional presence in the Sarasota/Manatee community through its
undergraduate and graduate nursing programs, operated out of Tampa but
conducted at Sarasota Memorial Hospital.
There are approximately 100 nursing students enrolled in those
programs. The campus totals
do not include these students.
This
significant enrollment increase comes at a time when campus administrators
are planning the next steps in gaining state legislature approval to build
new facilities. “This is
great news for USF and the Sarasota/Manatee community,” says campus CEO
Dr. Laurey Stryker. “President
Judy Genshaft committed to growing the university’s regional campuses
and we are seeing the results. I
expect more than 1,500 total students to be enrolled this semester since
some off-site
academic
programs are still registering people.
Our goal to have 4,000 students annually enrolled by 2006 is well
on its way. As we continue
adding programs and faculty, we will need more room.”
Campus
initiatives at USF Sarasota/Manatee for this academic year include:
-
Weekend College with
Saturday classes to complete a bachelor’s degree in General Business
Administration and a Criminology for Professionals master’s degree;
-
Joint admissions
initiative called “2+2” with Manatee Community College;
-
A bachelor’s degree in
Social Work; and,
-
Beginning in Summer 2002,
a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology and a master’s
degree in Teaching/Teacher Certification.
“The
Sarasota and Manatee business communities support us, we have a strong
bond with Manatee Community College, and we’re accommodating area
residents’ educational needs more and more.
We’re rock steady and growing,” says Stryker.
The
University of South Florida Sarasota/Manatee regional campus offers 40
degree programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels, now serving
2,500 students annually. It
is located at the Sarasota/Manatee County line on 140 acres, touching the
shoreline of Sarasota Bay and adjacent to the Sarasota/Bradenton
International Airport. The
regional campus is part of the University of South Florida, the second
largest university in Florida with more than 37,000 students, a Research I
institution, and one of the top 20 largest universities in the United
States.
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Media contact: Ellen Wile (941) 359-4749;
e-mail ewile@banshee.sar.usf.edu
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