ENMU's enrollment numbers up from 2022

Administrators at Eastern New Mexico University’s Portales campus reported last week that spring enrollment numbers are up by 7.8% from spring 2022. The spring 2023 total headcount is 4,849 students, up from 4,490 in spring 2022.

Newly appointed President and Chancellor James Johnston said he believes that as the university moves away from the COVID-19 pandemic, students are starting to desire in-person learning experiences again.

“Maybe some students put their education on pause” during the pandemic, he said. “We’re starting to see them come back.”

While it was difficult for many students to handle online learning, Johnston said those struggles are sometimes forgotten.

“In-person is one of the richest learning experiences, and students benefit tremendously from that,” he said.

Even with the increases this year, the enrollment numbers don’t favorably compare to where the university was pre-pandemic, Johnston said. But he believes the upward trend will continue.

“I’m not ready to put a hard number to it yet,” he said. “We have the capacity to grow significantly.”

He said the staff will continue to work diligently on the logistics to continue making it easy for students.

“We want to be the system that a student or alumnus will come back to,” he said. “You see a single number, but there’s a lot of people behind that who are working hard.”

Johnston, who is new to New Mexico, also mentioned the lottery scholarship as something that is bringing in new students to ENMU. “I think New Mexico as a state has improved on a different scale than others in the U.S,” he said.

Hybrid learning, which combines in-person and online experiences, is still an option that developed during the pandemic. Johnstons believes students who may need a little more flexibility still have the choice to attend classes virtually.

Johnston said that among potential students, “I want the ENMU system to be that first place you think of,” and he hopes ENMU’s enrollment numbers will continue to show growth.