West Virginia State University won't have official enrollment numbers until campus census results are released later this year, but school officials said preliminary figures are promising during a Thursday Board of Governors meeting.
Meeting for the first time this semester, the board discussed what school officials say are improvements in enrollment and student retention.
"We're pleased with the progress we've made," said WVSU President Brian Hemphill, who went on to say the university has made strides in attracting out-of-state and international students.
Hemphill said the university isn't sharing numbers with the public yet, but recruitment and retention committee members reported gains in early enrollment as well as the number of graduate students, Promise scholars and recruits from focus areas in Putnam and Boone counties.
According to reports given during Thursday's meeting, WVSU now enrolls 205 out-of-state students, up from 181 last year. Also, the university now has 31 graduate students, up from seven, and has increased the number of Promise scholars on campus, from 154 to 162.
Board member Gail Pitchford also said recruitment efforts in Putnam and Boone counties are paying off. She said there has been a 40 and 96 percent enrollment increase for Putnam and Boone residents, respectively.
In his presidential report, Hemphill also said occupancy at the university's new dormitory, the Judge Damon J. Keith Scholars Hall, reached the 291-bed capacity.
While officials were optimistic of the early reports, enrollment at WVSU still is far behind what it was 10 years ago when the university had more than 3,400 students. Since then, enrollment has dropped off nearly 20 percent.
During that time, the West Virginia State Community and Technical College splintered from the university to become the Kanawha Valley Community and Technical College. That school merged last year with Bridgemont Community and Technical College to become BridgeValley Community and Technical College.
Enrollment gains have been slow but steady since Hemphill joined the school in 2012. The school now has about 2,800 students.
Last year, Hemphill told the Gazette-Mail he wants to see enrollment at West Virginia State reach 4,000 by the end of the decade.
Reach Samuel Speciale at sam.speciale@dailymailwv.com, 304-348-7939 or follow @samueljspeciale on Twitter.