Record class amounts to 556 new undergraduate students, including a record 368 on campus and 188 online
Fulton, MO – It is move-in day today for new students at William Woods University (WWU) – the largest new student move-in day in the University’s 154-year history!
Continuing to buck the national trend in higher education enrollment, WWU will welcome the largest class of incoming new undergraduate students in its history when classes for the Fall 2024 semester begin on Monday, August 19 – bringing in the largest incoming class in history for an unprecedented second consecutive year. Coupled with the significant increases in new student enrollment of the previous two Falls, new undergraduate student enrollment in 2022 – 2024 now also constitutes the largest three-year growth period in the University’s 154-year history.
368 new students will begin New Student Orientation with the University’s annual Ivy Ceremony today on campus – also the largest incoming class of traditional residential students in University history – joining another 188 who are enrolling online, with classes beginning on Monday. And while together the 556 new undergraduate students make 2024 the largest incoming class to enroll at the University, the numbers may grow yet – new enrollees to The Woods will be accepted until the end of the first week of classes, on Friday, August 23.
“We are thrilled to welcome another outstanding class of new students to The Woods, the largest in the history of the University, for the second straight year,” said Dr. Jeremy Moreland, President of William Woods. “Our mission of providing a student-centered, professions-oriented, personal college experience here at William Woods, continues to resonate in a big way with both prospective students and their families. We are clearly Missouri’s fastest-growing small-town university and couldn’t be more excited about the strength we are seeing in both our residential and online degree programs.”
The Woods continues to shine nationally amongst its peers across higher education. In comparison, and according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, freshman undergraduate enrollment dropped 3.6 percent nationally during the Fall 2023 semester,
The incoming class includes students from 23 nations (up from 18 one year ago) and 32 U.S. states.
“At William Woods, we are committed to meeting the educational needs of both the traditional, on-campus student and the working professional who wants to finish their degree or further their career online, a mission that is critical for higher education in 2024,” said President Moreland. “Given the impressive, record class that is once again enrolling at The Woods for the Fall semester, it is clear that that mission is appealing to an ever-growing number of prospective students.”
The growth in enrollment at The Woods comes after the University has continued to make new investments in initiatives both inside and outside the classroom. In the past year, WWU has increased academic offerings, highlighted by the establishment of the first-ever Ph.D. program in University history, the Doctorate of Philosophy in Leadership; increased its online offerings for working professionals with the creation of William Woods global; and has significantly grown its athletic department, adding seven new intercollegiate sports highlighted by the addition of football for the first time in the University’s 154-year existence.
