DSU reports steady fall enrollment

Dakota State University in Madison reports steady overall enrollment this fall.  The state Board of Regents released information on enrollment at the six state universities on Wednesday that indicated a system-wide decrease of close to two-point-eight percent in headcount and full-time equivalent students.

Dakota State has 3186 students enrolled this fall, taking class credits that all together translate into just more than 2045 full-time equivalent students.  The total number of students this fall decreased by two-and-a-half percent from Fall of 2019, but the number of full-time equivalent students decreased by less than one-percent.  DSU President José-Marie Griffiths said this is still a positive trend for the university.

President Griffiths said that DSU’s online-only enrollment also has been rising. 

She said that the university also saw an increase in the number of students from South Dakota.

Griffiths said that DSU’s retention rate for students coming back to campus went up this year also.  

She said that the COVID-19 pandemic led to some of the enrollment changes at the university this fall.

Griffiths praised DSU’s enrollment management staff, including those in the Admissions Office, Enrollment Services Department, Information Technology Services support staff, and DSU faculty for being innovative and creative in their work to recruit, register and help students throughout the time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March.