Eastern’s spring enrollment is the second highest in the school’s history with 11,336 students, 78 less than last spring’s record-breaking 11, 414.Despite the drop in numbers, President Lou Hencken is guessing that the spring graduation numbers could be the highest in Eastern’s history. “If you’re going to graduate this spring, bring a comfortable chair,” Hencken said.Currently, there are 3,390 seniors at Eastern this semester, 97 more than last year’s class of 3,293. The fall graduation was the largest in Eastern’s history with 935 students, 125 more than the year before. “The good news is that the students are graduating,” Hencken said. “But when you take a look at the figures, something that does concern me is the number of seniors we have.”In 2002 and 2003, Eastern enrolled an above-average number of new students who are now coming to the end of their careers at Eastern, Hencken said. Now the university’s challenge will be to balance the numbers.  “It might be difficult to replace all these people this coming fall,” Hencken said. After last fall’s graduation numbers, current spring enrollment makes up about 92 percent of the fall’s enrollment. “That’s pretty much right on,” Hencken said of the average fall to spring enrollment turnover. Dan Nadler, vice president for student affairs, said between graduation and student teaching, Housing and Dining usually sees a decline in residents from the fall semester.”Nationally, there’s usually a drop-off from fall to spring,” he said. Also, new students are less likely to begin their time at Eastern in the spring semester rather than the fall. “It’s a little more challenging to jump in and start fresh in the spring,” Nadler said. “It’s kind of hard to jump in mid-year.” Brenda Major, director of admissions, said her office has noticed a change in transfer student registration in the last few years.  “They are applying later in each term,” she said. Many transfer students were still registering for classes through the first week of the semester, she said.Despite the last-minute registrations, transfer student numbers are down by 97 this year from last. “I don’t really think these numbers are any reason for concern,” Major said. The admissions office is making an effort to communicate with transfer students the importance of applying early to ensure the courses they need are available.”We’re visiting community colleges throughout the semester emphasizing the importance of applying in a timely manner,” Major said. The office is also considering a specialized open house that would cater directly to transfer students. “This one would be targeting them and feature an unofficial evaluation of their records if they bring those with them,” Major said. Even though overall enrollment fell this spring, minority enrollment increased from 1,196 to 1,268 students, making up almost 11.2 percent of Eastern’s enrollment. International student enrolment also increased by 12.4 percent from 137 to 154. Enrollment breakdown

Spring

2006

2007

Total undergrads

9,616

9,687

Freshmen

1,881

1,814

Sophomores

1,826

1,968

Juniors

2,519

2,612

Seniors

3,390

3,293

Graduate students

1,720

1,727