As the spring semester is in full swing, the admissions department is hard at work. While spring numbers are never as impressive as in the fall, they have made great progress in meeting their admission goals for this semester. 

Keith Ramsdell, vice president of enrollment management and marketing, said, “There are very few students who, in the middle of an academic year, are going to say, ‘You know what, I’m going to go move into a residence hall in the spring’, right? Our goal for the spring semester is a total of 10 new first year, full-time students. And for this year, we ended up with 11 domestic students and around six international students.” 

As for transfer students, while the numbers are less impressive at the moment, they are still optimistic.

Keith said, “For new transfer numbers, we came in a little below. But our goal is very high, and we’re still admitting some transfer students. This is the good news though… by the time we get through the spring B term, that will probably be up from where we were at this point last year.” 

Keith attributes his optimism and the rising numbers to the waning of the COVID-19 pandemic and the recovery of community college enrollment numbers. He said, “Following Covid, community colleges across the state and across the country were significantly impacted in a negative way… and we get most of our transfer students from community colleges. It’s just been within the last year or so that enrollments at community colleges have started to rebound, and so in the long term that will help us significantly.” 

As for graduate programs, the admissions department is pleased with the numbers. The standout program this semester was education. 

The surge in graduate education students is partially thanks to AU’s partnership with Columbus City Schools, who received an $8.2 million grant from the Wallace Foundation in 2021. Programs funded by this grant play a role in sending CCS students to AU. 

International student numbers have remained stable, despite recent challenges with obtaining visas thanks to stricter international COVID-19 policies, certain conflicts, and other obstacles. 

Overall, admission numbers have met or exceeded expectations this semester. While spring is never going to see the huge numbers of fall enrollments, the admissions department is pleased with the results, and will continue working to improve them for next year.