SOUTHEAST FALL ENROLLMENT UP 35 STUDENTS

Final enrollment figures at Southeast Missouri State University show an increase of 34 students in the fall full-time equivalency (FTE) total, university officials said Tuesday.

The figures are based on an official census after the first four weeks of fall semester classes, university officials said.

Southeast's total FTE enrollment stands at 7,215, up from 7,181 last fall. Total semester credit hours also are up by 584 at 107,420, compared with 106,836 at this time last year.

Total undergraduate headcount stands at 8,004, up 75 from 7,929 last fall. The university registered enrollment increases in the sophomore, junior and senior classes. Beginning freshmen and freshman enrollment declined from last year.

Total undergraduate semester credit hours also are up by 848 at 104,216, compared to 103,368 last fall, officials said.

In addition, Southeast's undergraduate FTE, currently at 6,948, has surpassed last fall's FTE of 6,892, university officials said.

Meanwhile, total university headcount dropped 100 to 8,716 this fall, compared to 8,816 last fall. University officials have attributed the decline to fewer graduate students.

Total graduate headcount enrollment stands at 712, down 175 from last year's total of 887 graduate students, university officials said.

More women than men attend Southeast, enrollment figures show. Enrollment of female students stands at 5,028, compared to 3,688 male students.

Last fall, 5,168 female students were enrolled at Southeast and 3,648 male students were enrolled, records show.

It was also announced this week that enrollment at the Bootheel Education Center in Malden has surpassed 1,000.

The total enrollment of students at the center from Three Rivers Community College of Poplar Bluff and Southeast Missouri State University stands at 1,014, an increase of 30 percent over the previous record enrollment for the 1991 spring semester, said Karen Wheeler, director of the center.

Students enrolled in credit courses at the center come from 36 communities throughout the area. Although some students commute from as far away as Williamsville, Wappapello and Puxico, 95 percent of the center's students live within a 30-mile radius of Malden, she said.