Final fall enrollment figures for the University of Houston-Victoria show a double-digit percentage increase from 2009 to 2010 with more than 300 of the new students coming to the Victoria campus as part of the university�s first freshmen and sophomores.

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�This is such an exciting year with our first underclassmen walking the hallways of our Victoria campus,� Interim President Don Smith said. �We have new students and programs, a new residence hall, new sports teams and new faculty members.�

Don Smith

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UHV�s enrollment increased 12 percent, from 3,655 students in fall 2009 to 4,095 students in fall 2010. Of those students, 432 are freshmen and sophomores.

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UHV shattered its goal of attracting its FIRST 200 underclassmen to the Victoria campus by registering 218 freshmen who take face-to-face classes in Victoria and an additional 101 sophomores who take either face-to-face classes locally, a combination of online and face-to-face classes in Victoria or who have Victoria addresses but take only online classes.

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The final numbers also show some other interesting facts about UHV�s first freshmen:

• About 45 percent identify themselves as Hispanic, with 31 percent identifying themselves as white and 17 percent as black.
• About one-third are first-generation college students, meaning that they are the first in their family to go to college.
• The split between genders is nearly even with females making up 51 percent of the freshman class.�
• The top five counties students came from are Harris, Fort Bend, Victoria, Bexar and Nueces. Three percent of the freshmen are from other states or countries.

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�Students really responded well to UHV�s strengths � our location in a safe community, the personal attention our students receive, our small class sizes and our affordability,� said Chari Norgard, associate vice president for Student Success and Enrollment Management. �Students also were excited about making history as part of UHV�s first freshman class.�

Chari Norgard

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UHV already is accepting freshman applications for fall 2011 and so far has received 453 and accepted 33 freshmen.

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Fall enrollment figures for all UHV students also show that the university is one of only seven Texas public universities that experienced a double-digit percentage increase from fall 2009 to fall 2010, according to preliminary figures from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

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UHV also has grown substantially within the last five years with enrollment increasing 54 percent from 2,652 students in fall 2006 to the 4,095 students taking classes this fall.

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The final numbers for UHV�s total fall enrollment also show that:

• Undergraduates now make up 56 percent of the student body, while the split was nearly equal in fall 2009.
• The average student age is 31.
• Women make up 65 percent of the student body.
• Forty-eight percent of students take only online classes, a percentage that is expected to decrease as the Victoria campus grows.

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�The hard work of our faculty and staff continues to pay off,� Smith said. �Students are realizing that they can get a quality education at UHV at a cost they can afford.�

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