SOUTHEAST ENROLLMENT CONTINUES TO INCREASE

Enrollment numbers at Southeast Missouri State University continued to climb during the 1990s, as the university expanded its programs and improved buildings.

Adding graduate programs in business, nursing, social work and health fitness administration helped launch an interest in the university's advanced degree programs, officials say.

Expanding programs at outlying education centers also was a boost to enrollment.

Any enrollment increase of 1 to 2 percent per year is good, university officials said. But Southeast saw jumps as high as 4 percent during the late 1990s, after a serious decline during the 1970s and 1980s.

In 2000, the university had nearly 9,000 students enrolled for the fall semester, a benchmark that hadn't been hit in 15 years.

There were more than 8,000 students enrolled for the first day of classes in 1999. Preliminary numbers for the first day of the semester showed 8,113 students that year, an increase of 4.3 percent from 1998 numbers.

The university wanted to reach an enrollment of 10,000 students but never met that mark during the 1990s.