WCU's Enrollment tops 10,000

WCU Chancellor David O. Belcher making the announcement

Enrollment at Western Carolina University has topped 10,000 students for the first time in the institution’s history, a milestone reached in large part because of an increase of five percentage points in the freshman retention rate to nearly 79 percent.

Western Carolina’s total enrollment for the fall 2013 semester is 10,106, a 5 percent increase over last year’s tally of 9,608 students.

The university’s freshman retention rate – the percentage of first-time, full-time freshman students who return for their sophomore year – is 78.7 percent this year, compared to last fall’s retention rate of 73.7 percent. 

WCU Chancellor David O. Belcher announced the enrollment figures during a special event and reception held at the Central Plaza area on campus Tuesday, Sept. 3.

Enrollment figures are up across the board, with increases in the numbers of first-time freshmen, undergraduate transfers, graduate students, distance education students and students taking classes at the university’s instructional site at Biltmore Park, Belcher said.

Courtesy WCU Media Relations