UTRGV preliminary enrollment steady

UTRGV has a preliminary enrollment of 32,419 students this semester, the same number it had in Fall 2020, university officials say.

As of Aug. 17, undergraduate enrollment totaled 27,124, followed by 5,073 students in the Graduate College and 222 in the UTRGV School of Medicine, according to Maggie Hinojosa, UTRGV’s senior vice president for Strategic Enrollment.

The preliminary enrollment numbers are higher than the pre-COVID numbers of 2019.

“Last year was an anomaly,” she said. “Last year, there was just a lot of interesting things happening.”

 Because of the circumstances that come with COVID-19, the university did not expect an upward trend in student population to continue.

UTRGV does, however, have a goal in mind to keep enrollment up. 

“We knew that things would stabilize this year,” Hinojosa said of the 2021-2022 school year. “So, our goal was really to maintain our enrollment above pre-COVID, being Fall 2019.”

So far, the university has maintained this standard. 

“Compared to 2019, which is pre-COVID, we are up over 13%,” Hinojosa said.

Everything, from admissions and registration to financial aid, plays a huge role in the university enrollment rate, as this all supports students through the registration and enrollment process.

“There’s a lot that goes into the actual number,” Hinojosa said. “It’s truly the campus community, our UTRGV community, that ensures we maintain a certain level of enrollment.”

Services, such as schedule creation, advising and recruitment, play a role in maintaining the rates, but, given the circumstances, this fall looks different.

“It’s not going to be like last year, and it’s not going to be like Fall ’19, either,” Hinojosa said. “We will actually have students on campus. I drove in to work this morning, and you can just tell that traffic is different. You can tell that things are definitely not like they were last year.”

In 2020, during the beginning of the pandemic and quarantine, students learned remotely. This year, however, students are making their return to traditional face-to-face learning.

“Although we will have lots of students back on campus, and we are extremely excited about that, it’s not exactly going to be Fall ’19,” Hinojosa said. 

There will still be plenty of courses still offered online and in hybrid formats.

“I also think you’re going to continue to see folks wear masks, and that’s important. I think we’re trying to get back to some semblance of normalcy, but we’re not quite there yet,” she said.

Safety on campus is still important for students, faculty and staff, Hinojosa said. So masks are encouraged, and disinfectant wipes will still be provided across campus.

“Your education is the one thing nobody can ever take away from you,” she said. “We saw it last year and we will continue to see it this year: the resiliency of our students, and the determination of our students to come back to school and continue their education.”