SIU releases spring 2021 enrollment numbers, sees 3.7% decrease in attendance
February 4, 2021
SIU announced today that 10,378 total students are enrolled at SIU, marking a 3.7% decrease in attendance since Spring 2020, where 10,779 students attended SIU.
SIU said 60 first time students are enrolled, more than double since last year.
“Unlike in previous years, we are also seeing more new students start their college careers in the spring rather than the fall,” SIU’s Chancellor Austin Lane said in a release about the numbers. “We believe that many students may have deferred starting in the fall due to the pandemic but are now moving forward to get started.”
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Spring enrollment is traditionally smaller than fall enrollment, due to a number of students graduating in the fall. In Fall 2020, 11,366 students were in attendance and 870 students graduated.
According to the release, it estimated around an 85% retention rate for freshman students. SIU reported its highest retention rate of 91% in Spring 2020.
(See more: SIU reports highest fall to spring freshman retention numbers in 10 years)
Chancellor Lane congratulated the SIU faculty and staff for helping students keep learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our faculty and staff have worked very hard to support students in challenging times,” Lane said.
Enrollment numbers for previous years at SIU can be found here.
Staff reporter Danny Connolly can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @.DConnollyTV
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Thomas Francis Thibeault • Aug 26, 2021 at 6:21 pm
When I started working at SIU in 1989 there were 24,000 students. Now less than half of that. In the 23 years I worked at SIU we had 10 chancellors. We also had an overabundance of interim and acting administrators. In the eight years since I left SIU there have been 5 more chancellors. This lack of continuity, vision, and strong leadership has decimated a once thriving university. I’m not familiar with the current leadership but I truly hope they can turn things around.
Gaurav Souin • Mar 19, 2021 at 12:22 am
When we used to attend SIU, the enrollement was way above 20,000 people. What has happened now? This is over a 65% drop in numbers and the chancellor says things are good. Maybe SIU should open a department of positivity. …