Texas Tech's College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources continued its record-setting student enrollment pace, largely maintaining last year's stellar numbers with 1,856 students signing up for classes in the fall semester, university officials report. Last year CASNR reached a new benchmark in student enrollment with a record 1,874 students attending the High Plains campus.

The enrollment numbers for individual departments were:

• Department of Agricultural & Applied Economics: 376 (Grad: 36 /Undergrad: 340)
• Department of Agricultural Education & Communications: 303 (Grad: 57 /Undergrad: 246)
• Animal & Food Sciences: 541 (Grad: 77 /Undergrad: 464)
• Department of Landscape Architecture: 102 (Grad: 10 /Undergrad: 92)
• Natural Resources Management: 305 (Grad: 58 /Undergrad: 247)
• Department of Plant & Soil Science: 217 (Grad: 87 /Undergrad: 130)
• Agricultural Undecided: 12 (Grad: 9 /Undergrad: 3)

Historically, CASNR had one of its largest enrollments in the Fall of 1977 when 1,687 students were enrolled in the college, according to Ramona Johnson, CASNR's Coordinator of Undergraduate Programs.

Meanwhile, Texas Tech as a whole Tech established record enrollment figures for the fourth-straight fall semester as 32,611 students are on campus for classes. Providing a boost to the number are more than 4,700 first-time students enrolled at the university this fall, the second-most in school history, while undergraduate enrollment set a new standard with 26,583 students.

"I'm proud to see our continued growth in enrollment and quality," said Lawrence Schovanec, interim president at Texas Tech. The university's enrollment, on the rise over the last decade with a 27 percent growth, places the school on course to reach an institutional goal of 40,000 by 2020. Additionally, more than 65 percent of the student body is from 300 miles away or further.

Written by Norman Martin

CONTACT: Michael Galyean, Dean, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2808 or michael.galyean@ttu.edu

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