Gannon University currently has 4,410 students enrolled, which signifies the most students enrolled at the university in 23 years.
In one year, the number of undergraduates enrolled at Gannon has increased by 64 students, while the number of graduate students has increased by 107 students and the number of international students has grown by 176 students.
Overall, the total number of students registered for classes at Gannon has increased by 199 students since last year alone.
Vice President of Enrollment William Edmonson attributed a great deal of the growth in Gannon’s student population to many of the programs and organizations that the school has added in recent years.
“There a lot of people here at Gannon working hard,” he said. “Many programs have been added, from club sports to new educational programs that draw more diverse students in.”
He also gave a lot of credit to the international recruitment that the school does around the world.
Gannon currently has students from 29 different countries enrolled, with the majority of these international students coming from Saudi Arabia, China and India.
He said that many of these countries have developed a growing economy that enables higher education, but they might not have as many colleges or universities available, or that a U.S. degree may be more valued than a degree from another country.
“Through international recruitment, we make an education available to these students from varying cultures and backgrounds,” he said.
In 2001 Gannon had 145 international students, which is 451 less than they have enrolled this fall. Edmonson also added that international recruitment will only increase, and that enrollment believes that, in the future, Central America and Brazil will be amongst the countries that will be sending students to receive an education at Gannon University.
Gannon doesn’t plan on stopping here, though, having recently hired two regional recruiters in the U.S.
One of the recruiters is in New Jersey to recruit students from the New Jersey and Philadelphia area, while the other is in Ohio recruiting students from the Ohio and Michigan area.
“We work hard on recruitment, and we plan on continuing to grow and expand,” Edmonson said.
CHARLES LEAR
