Enrollment at Seattle universities swells to highest number ever

There are more college students in Seattle than ever before this year -- nearly 52,000 at the city's three universities alone, according to newly released enrollment numbers for this fall's student bodies.

Most of those students are at the University of Washington, where enrollment is up again. Enrollment of minority students at the UW is increasing faster than the general population.

The most notable trend, however, might be happening at Seattle University, where officials are hoping a surge in graduate student enrollment will help pay for the university's Division I athletic aspirations -- a goal that could be costly for the school, currently in Division II.

About 770 new freshmen are enrolled at SU this year -- down from almost 790 last year, according to data released Thursday. But overall, the university's enrollment is up more than 4 percent, thanks to a 12 percent increase in graduate students.

SU now has 2,200 graduate students enrolled. More tuition-paying students could allow Seattle University to offer more athletic scholarships, update sports facilities and increase athletic department staff -- the accouterments that a typical Division I university has.

"Moving into Division I, that will come with some additional costs," Associate Provost Jim White said.

The National College Athletic Association requires Division I members to sponsor at least seven sports teams each for men and women -- or six for men and eight for women. SU is looking at adding golf, tennis and baseball to its athletic program, White said.

If it gets the approval, Seattle University intends to play a full Division I schedule in 2009-10.

Freshman and sophomore retention rates increased 4 percent this year, but the graduate studies are where the numbers really start to stack up. White attributes the swell in graduate enrollment to the popularity of recently created master's programs in fields such as sports administration, fine arts and criminal justice.

The criminal justice program has 37 students enrolled this fall, up from 19 a year ago. There are 83 students earning master's degrees in sports administration and leadership now, compared with 45 last fall.

Seattle Pacific University could soon be headed in a similar direction. Overall enrollment is hovering just under 3,850 -- only 12 students more than were enrolled last year.

But SPU has a tentative goal of enrolling 1,500 graduate students by 2014, a significantly bolstered graduate student population from the roughly 760 students enrolled now. The school is looking at offering master's degrees in theology, science education and possibly nursing in order to increase graduate opportunities, SPU Vice President Marj Johnson said.

"We're going to be really thinking through what areas are our areas of competence for potential new grad programs," she said.

By contrast, officials with the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma have decided their fall-quarter head count of 2,527 students is as large as they want the school to get. For the last several years, UPS has been trying to downsize to create a more intimate, liberal-arts friendly environment.

At the University of Washington's Seattle campus, enrollment finally broke 40,000, exceeding that level by more than 200 students. Minority enrollment also increased, creating what Director of Admissions Philip Ballinger called "a banner year."

The UW has cited minority enrollment as a mainstay priority since a 1998 voter-approved initiative ended quotas in admissions.

This year, almost 12,200 minority students are attending the UW, about 400 more than last year. For the past several years, minority enrollment has increased steadily by at least 300 students every fall.

A holistic approach to admission -- where students' life experiences are considered in addition to their grades and test scores -- might play a role in the trend.

But Ballinger said there has recently been a higher rate of minority applications coming into his department.

"I think the word is getting out that the UW certainly is a great university, but it is not a closed-door university," he said. "I think that students are beginning to understand that it's a university that may be for them."

Two-year college transfer rates remained about the same at UW this fall. About 1,170 community college students were admitted to the Seattle campus.

Enrollment at Seattle community colleges was down slightly from 2006 when about 12,490 students enrolled. Ten days into fall quarter, the district reported about 12,130 students enrolled.