UM’s summer enrollment grows 17 percent, highest since 2014

Summer semester enrollment at the University of Montana grew 17 percent from a year ago, with 2,932 students compared to 2,493 last year. Summer enrollment in 2018 was the highest at UM since 2014.

Students use summer courses to shorten their time to graduation, take advantage of unique experiential learning opportunities and learn in accelerated course formats.

Cathy Cole, UM’s new vice president for enrollment management and strategic communications, praised the work of the Office of the Provost for growing the summer sessions.

“They worked very hard to provide a mix of required courses that students need for their degrees and some interesting electives that are unique to the summer experience in Missoula,” she said.

Several campus committees worked throughout the spring and summer to enhance summer offerings, led by Linda Shook, the summer programs coordinator.

UM also increased its online courses to a record 185 offerings. About half of the students attending summer school courses did so online. Students chose from a wide range of educational requirement courses and experiential learning opportunities, such as sustainable farming and watershed science.

“The increase in summer enrollment is a reflection of the commitment of our university’s faculty and staff, who worked to make the summer experience beneficial for our students,” said Nathan Lindsay, UM associate provost for dynamic learning. “For the first time in recent years, students also were able to use their Pell Grants for summer classes.”

Despite strong summer enrollment, officials at UM anticipate and have prepared for decreased enrollment in the fall.

“We graduated 1,772 students last spring and expect 463 more to graduate this summer,” Cole said. “We’ll need a bigger-than-expected incoming class for our enrollment to increase overall.”

Cole said students continue to apply for admission to UM every day, and there’s still time to enroll before classes begin Aug. 27. Learn more at http://admissions.umt.edu.

“We welcome students right up to the start of classes, and we invite anyone who is still considering UM this fall to contact us,” Cole said. “We’re happy to arrange tours, meetings with faculty, students or staff or to connect prospective students with assistance from admissions or financial aid. It is a great time to be a Grizzly.”