The Connecticut State University System (CSUS) – which includes Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic, Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven and Western Connecticut State University in Danbury – now has more undergraduate students than at any time in the System’s history, surpassing 30,000 undergraduate students (30,122).
With the highest overall enrollment this year in nearly two decades, CSUS is also producing more graduates, and a series of other measures – including graduation rates, retention rates and the number of students staying within the System to attend graduate school – are all on the rise.
Total enrollment, including undergraduate and graduate students, is at 36,629, the highest it’s been since 1991, including more students attending on a full-time basis. Today, 82 percent of undergraduate students attend full-time. In 1991, that percentage was 63 percent.
Full-time student levels have grown steadily for the past eight years to 26,528 in fall 2010, an increase of nearly 3,000 full-time students in just the past five years. Data also indicate that those attending on a part-time basis are carrying heavier credit loads. This indicates a higher level of student engagement and portends improved student success in the future.
During the year, the universities have awarded 7,005 degrees and certificates. It is the first time that more than 7,000 were awarded in a single year. In the year 2000, there were 5,270 degrees granted, reflecting an increase of 33 percent during the decade.
Data also indicate that the CSUS universities provide a solid educational springboard for students – those who continue at the universities where they started and those who continue elsewhere. Seven out of 10 students who begin at a CSUS institution as full-time freshmen have either graduated, transferred to another institution, or remain active students at that institution six years after beginning their post-secondary education. (The statistics do not include students who begin on a part-time basis.)
Recent data also reflect that across CSUS, six-year graduation rates are above the national average for similar institutions and have climbed steadily since 2005, increasing from 38 percent to 46 percent. (This statistic does not include transfer students or those who begin their studies part-time.) Retention rates are also above the national average for similar institutions.
In addition, first-time full-time applicants have increased in six of the past seven years, surpassing the 20,000 mark in 2009 and 2010. The growth in applications reflects a 20 percent increase, or more than 3,000 additional applicants, since 2004.
Previous surveys have also indicated that the number of CSUS graduates pursuing master’s degrees grew from 22 percent to 29 percent, and 60 percent of them are doing so at Central, Eastern, Southern or Western, up from 53 percent the previous year.
