Program continues to see high enrollment

The Graduate Studies program saw increased enrollment for the seventh consecutive semester as the spring enrollment numbers were calculated.


“A lot of the increased enrollment is due to both the previous dean Dr. May and [interim dean] Dr. Smith,” Graduate Admissions Counselor Jennifer McAndrews said. “They have done a lot of recruiting in house with ASU. Between half and two-thirds of our students are ASU undergrads.”


The graduate program had a total enrollment of 841 students last spring, and each year there are at least 50 students who join the graduate program, McAndrews said.


“Our increases have slowed down,” McAndrews said. “We have been increasing every semester but it has slowed down some. I would still say that we should get more students because Dr. Smith has been great about getting into classes and recruiting our undergraduate students. All I have seen are additional applications for each semester. [I expect] we will have higher [enrollment] than we had last fall and this spring.”


Dr. June Smith, interim dean for the Graduate Studies program, has been talking with students about the different benefits graduate school offers.


“[I give] students information about how a graduate degree will enhance their career advancement, mobility and earning power,” Smith said. “I also give students a chance to ask questions about their individual situations. The professors who invite me to their classes have also been talking to their students. Between the classroom professor and my office, students can get what they need to know to make a good decision about graduate school.”


According to http://finance.yahoo.com, going to graduate school pays off when looking for a job and ultimately puts more money back in your pocket.


“I try to show [students] that it is possible for them to finance a graduate education with minimal or no debt,” Smith said.


ASU prefers in-house recruitment over recruiting fairs outside of the university, McAndrews said.


“The departments do a lot of their own recruiting,” McAndrews said. “They tend to go out and gather students. We found that after attending graduate fairs, there are not as many students attending the fairs as those who are looking at online for information. We try to keep our website as up to date as possible and make sure questions that anyone has are answered as quickly as possible.”


The Graduate Studies program offers 24 degree programs and one doctoral degree in Physical Therapy, McAndrews said. Some of the graduate programs offered are Accounting, Criminal Justice, Educational Administration and Security Studies.


“What draws in most of our students currently is that many of our graduate education programs are online, and [students] like the flexibility that comes with online education,” McAndrews said.  “Some of our other programs aside from education are online.”


The application process that students have to go through depends on each department and is not complicated for the majority of programs, McAndrews said.


“Some of our more competitive programs like nursing or physical therapy have a more involved process,” McAndrews said. “Some of the other programs only require an application, the application fee and transcripts. We then send the information over to the specific department and they make a decision.”    

Smith said it is important to recruit current ASU students because the students carry high-quality characteristics that the graduate program wants.


“Our students do well all across the nation, and I want the first chance to recruit them for us,” Smith said. “I am also happy to help any ASU student who wishes to go to graduate school elsewhere.”