<p>The University of Houston-Victoria&rsquo;s preliminary spring enrollment has increased nearly 3 percent from this time last year.</p> <div class="mugshot left"> <div class="shot"><a href="images/uploads/staff/Morgan-Vic-2015.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Vic Morgan" src="images/uploads/staff/Morgan-Vic-2015-100W.jpg" /> </a></div> <div class="name">Vic Morgan</div> </div> <p>The university has 4,107 students enrolled as of Wednesday, the 12th class day, a 2.9 percent increase from spring enrollment a year ago. That growth was reflected in several areas throughout the university.</p> <p>&ldquo;It is exciting to see UHV making progress in its goals toward growth and student retention,&rdquo; UHV President Vic Morgan said. &ldquo;The university continues to focus on offering an affordable, accessible education, and it is rewarding to know students are taking advantage of UHV&rsquo;s programs to earn a degree.&rdquo;</p> <p>All three of UHV&rsquo;s academic schools saw an increase in the number of undergraduate student enrollment when compared to the previous spring. The School of Education, Health Professions &amp; Human Development grew by 13.1 percent, while the School of Arts &amp; Sciences saw an 8.1 percent increase and the School of Business Administration had a 1.3 percent increase. In addition, the education school also saw a 2.9 percent increase in preliminary graduate student enrollment.</p> <p>In addition to more students, the university has seen an increase in retention from the previous year&rsquo;s preliminary numbers. This year, UHV has 3,601 returning students, 4.5 percent more than a year ago. There was a 25 percent increase in the number of freshmen who returned to UHV after an earlier semester compared with the previous spring. There also was a 15.2 percent increase in returning juniors and a 14.1 percent increase in returning sophomores.</p> <p>The university also saw growth in the number of new graduate students enrolled. A group of 175 students, 8.7 percent more than the previous year, joined UHV this spring to pursue graduate degrees.</p> <div class="mugshot right"> <div class="shot"><a href="images/uploads/staff/Thomas-Denee.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Denee Thomas" src="images/uploads/staff/Thomas-Denee-100W.jpg" /> </a></div> <div class="name">Denee Thomas</div> </div> <p>With the increases in preliminary spring enrollment and student retention, UHV also has seen a rise in the number of credit hours taken by students. As of the 12th class day, UHV students are taking 38,055 credit hours, a 3.2 percent increase from preliminary numbers a year ago.</p> <p>&ldquo;We are happy to see increased enrollment in the spring semester, especially when so many people are dealing with the effects of Hurricane Harvey,&rdquo; said Denee Thomas, UHV assistant vice president for enrollment management. &ldquo;Retaining our current students is a win for UHV, hopefully leading to more graduates and stretching recruitment dollars. Additionally, more undergraduates are carrying larger semester credit hour loads, which should lead to shorter graduation times and a savings of time and money for students.&rdquo;</p> <p>Final spring enrollment figures and a breakdown of student demographics will be available later in the spring semester after certification from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.</p>