The number of students attending Thompson Rivers University this fall has increased by 1.5 per cent over last year, bucking a trend in the provincial post-secondary system.

Almost 7,500 students are registered for the Fall Semester in programs on the Kamloops and Williams Lake campuses in degree, diploma, certificate, trades and university preparation programs.

The largest group is 5,300 students enrolled in university degree programs, where most of the growth in student numbers is found. Upper level university student numbers showed the largest increase at 8 per cent, driven by increased student numbers in the business, tourism and social work degree programs and the launch of new Master degree programs in Education and Environmental Studies.

First and second year university numbers remained flat at 3423, despite an increase in the number of first year students. Their numbers were offset by second year attrition that’s due in part to the impact of the strong economy. The university was also impacted by the larger provincial universities lowering their admission averages in August when they struggled to meet their enrolment targets.

However, even with an overall increase in the number of students, in general the number of courses being taken by students has not increased, leaving current FTE levels flat. Once again, it appears the economy is allowing more students to continue working part-time, while taking a lighter course load.

Enrolments in diploma, certificate and trades programs are similar to last year, as most programs have limited enrolment capacity. The most challenging areas for enrolment continue to be technology-related programs, where student application numbers forced the delay of the electronics program this fall. The strong job market continues to keep student application numbers down in many programs, including some areas of the trades, and has even made it more difficult to find qualified instructors, as was the case in the Joinery trade-entry program which resulted in a delay in that programs start date.

Enrolments at the Williams Lake campus increased slightly this fall, to just over 400 students, while the largest single increase was seen in the international student numbers, which broke new records with 1,033 students this fall. International student course enrolments are not counted in FTE calculations.

The fall semester is the first of three that make up the 2007-2008 academic year. With the potential for increased student numbers in university programs again in January and programs that have yet to start, there is still an opportunity for overall FTE numbers to increase, which would be against the provincial trend in the post-secondary system.

For more information please contact

Josh Keller
Director Marketing and Communications
Phone: 250.828.5008
email: jkeller@tru.ca