In the first State of the University address, Elizabeth Hitch, Interim President, said that the spring semester brought an additional 1,700 students on top of the 2,800 student increase during the fall semester.
The number of minority students is also increasing for the school; there has been a 32 percent increase in African American students, and a 25 percent increase in Hispanic/Latino students.
According to Hitch, a large portion of the overall increase is due to the amount of students continuing their education.
“More and more it’s becoming the university of first choice for many students, and I think that we will continue to see an increase,” said Bob Rasmussen, Assistant Vice President of Student Services.
Despite the growing number of students, the university is currently unable to keep up with the growing need of more space. In the State of the University address, Hitch spoke of how UVU has the lowest amount of square feet than any other state-funded school in Utah.
“In most of my classes I have felt that there are way too many students. In fact, in two of my classes last semester students had to grab chairs from the hallway to sit in every day,” said Heidi Gainer, a UVU student.
Gainer said that the PE and LA buildings are too crowded, but that everywhere feels standard for a college.
“I think UVU is a good school, but I think there is definitely room for progress,” Gainer said. “I went down to Dixie for a year and felt that I was much more involved and appreciated there than I do at UVU.”
In response to space concerns, the University will have Divisional reports on campus space on Feb. 12 from 8 to noon in SC 206c.
The official student increase numbers and other school statistics will be released sometime in March.
