UNM is always bustling with students during the first week of classes, but this year the campus may seem more crowded than usual.

UNM’s enrollment grew nearly 6 percent, from 26,187 students to 27,700 students, since last fall, said Carmen Alvarez Brown, vice president of Enrollment Management. The rising enrollment rates are especially evident among National Merit Scholars, nonresidents, freshmen, transfer students and students taking online classes, she said.
Brown said UNM’s increased recruiting efforts led to the spike in enrollment.

“In the last three years, we have been developing a very aggressive recruiting plan to attract National Merit Scholars,” she said. “We have also implemented a very robust e-mail communication to prospective National Merit Scholars that is second to no other university.”

Official enrollment counts will not be released until the third week of classes, as numbers are still fluctuating, but unofficial counts show that enrollment by National Merit Scholars is up by 77 percent since last year.
Out-of-state student enrollment increased 10.6 percent, and the number of freshmen shot up by 5.4 percent, bringing the total number of freshmen to a record 3,580.

UNM Regent Carolyn Abeita said the University made a concerted effort to spread the message that it provides quality education and opportunities.

“We set some enrollment goals, and we really made an effort to get the word out there that UNM offers all kinds of courses and opportunities, as well as a diverse student population and a beautiful campus in a great environment,” she said. “I really think this year’s enrollment numbers are the fruit of those efforts.”

UNM spokeswoman Sari Krosinsky said the economy also factored into rising enrollment rates.
“With this economy, more and more people are recognizing the importance of a degree and higher education,” she said. “We have also been reaching out to community colleges and states where the economy was hit really hard, and we’re able to offer an aca­d­e­mic home to stu­dents in states where bud­get short­falls have limited col­lege opportunities.”

Abeita said she’s encouraged to see more students enrolling at UNM, but sustaining those numbers is what’s most important.
“We as regents need to make sure we are retaining all these students,” she said. “We have set goals to support the students even more, and remember that while we are glad to see such high numbers of freshmen, we need to work that much harder to serve all the students.”