Although the number of West Virginia high school graduates is on a downward trend, enrollment at West Virginia University is holding steady near the 22,000 mark, and the number of first-time freshmen from West Virginia entering WVU remained about the same1,948.

“WVU is a school of choice for todays students because of our high quality academic programs, our breadth of programs, our student-centered approach and our good educational value,”said Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management and Services W. Wes Williams.

Total headcount enrollment at West Virginia University for the fall semester is 21,987. Of this number, 64 percent, or 14,357, are West Virginia residents.

Entering WVU freshmen have higher standardized test scores this year: Average composite ACT scores rose from 22.2 last year to 22.6 this year, and average combined SAT scores rose from 1,028 in 1999 to 1,035 this year. On both tests, WVUs incoming freshmen scored above the national average.

WVU has been working hard, Williams noted, to increase the quality of the student bodythose with higher class standings and ACT scoresrather than just adding enrollment numbers. The University has also launched programs to help freshman adjust to college life and is placing a greater emphasis on retention, or getting students to stay in school.

Increases in total enrollment are evident in the College of Creative Arts, the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, the Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism, the College of Law and the School of Pharmacy. The School of Journalisms enrollment increased by more than 25 percent from 1999 to 2000.

Other enrollment highlights include a 4.3 percent increase in first-professional student enrollment this year following a 10 percent increase last year; a 9 percent increase in international student enrollment this year, following a 14 percent increase last year; and a 3.4 percent increase in the number of African-American students.

Other enrollment statistics:

• Total headcount enrollment was down slightly from last falls total of 22,315 Officials attribute the 1.5 percent decline in headcount to a drop in off-campus graduate student enrollment, which is mostly part-time.

• On-campus headcount enrollment rose by 66 students, with increases at the undergraduate and first professional levels and a decline of 19 students at the graduate level.

• Total undergraduate enrollment at WVU rose by 46, from 15,417 to 15,463.

• Total first-time freshman enrollment is 3,540; last years total was 3,567.