Campus News

Rockford, Ill., – Enrollment of full-time undergraduate (FTUG) students at Rockford University has reached a 20-year high of 878 students for fall 2014, up nearly nine percent over last year. The University also recruited the largest first-year class in a decade with 146 students. Transfer enrollments are also at 20-year highs, bringing the total number of full-time new students entering traditional undergraduate programing to 341 students. The increase in enrollment has occurred despite a decrease in high school graduates in Illinois and the region. The University’s international student population has also seen a six percent increase over 2013 with 49 students from 22 countries enrolled in undergraduate, graduate and ESL programs.

The University’s total student enrollment is 1,284, up four percent over 2013, and includes 1,032 undergraduate and 252 graduate students. Vice President for Enrollment Management Eric Fulcomer, Ph.D., credits several factors for the strong student numbers saying, “Rockford University has invested $13 million in campus infrastructure and facilities over the past five years; we’ve leveraged our name change to University with a new Rock Solid marketing campaign that is proving to resonate with diverse audiences; we’ve made improvements in our recruitment processes and procedures; and perhaps most importantly, the dedication of our faculty and staff to foster a satisfying student experience is exceptional.” Dr. Fulcomer also notes that the GPA and ACT academic profile of students continues to increase.

Additionally, the university has recently conducted the national 2014 Student-Satisfaction Inventory (SSI) in which Rockford students rank their experiences as more satisfied than peer institutions in 10 of 11 categories such as academic support, campus life, recruitment and financial aid, support services, and service excellence.