County students lead HSU enrollment
ARKADELPHIA — Students from Garland County topped enrollment numbers at Henderson State University for the fall 2017 semester.
Henderson reported its official enrollment this week with 458 students from Garland County. Clark County and Hot Spring County were the second- and third-most represented with 432 and 270 students, respectively.
“We are happy to see increases from these three counties,” said Provost Steve Adkison. “In Garland County this year, we have placed College and Career Readiness coaches with Hot Springs High and Lake Hamilton High. Their work, including college and workplace visits, is designed to
help students prepare for both college and careers.”
Enrollment at HSU-Hot Springs improved by more than
26 percent from the fall of 2016 when 160 students registered for classes. The university reports
203 students are taking at least one class in Hot Springs this semester.
“Our new director of Hot Springs initiatives, Tiffany Rogers has been working even more closely with National Park College to help streamline our processes for transfer students through our shared 2 + 2 programs,” Adkison said.
The total enrollment includes
74 full-time students at the satellite campus. Full-time students earn at least 51 percent of their semester credits at the Hot Springs campus in the Landmark Building downtown.
HSU-Hot Springs enrolled 169 students in its first fall semester in 2014 before renovations to the Hot Springs Downtown Education Center in the Landmark Building were completed. Enrollment grew to 180 students in the fall 2015 semester.
Enrollment grew again in the spring to 190 students. Adkison recently said Henderson’s goal is to increase enrollment to 350 students working to obtain bachelor’s and master’s degrees on the Hot Springs campus.
Henderson’s total enrollment is highlighted by a first-time freshman class with a new sixyear high average ACT score of
22.1, which is better than the state and national averages. The state average score is 19.4 and the national average is 21.0.
“For the sixth year, our freshman class has been more prepared to succeed in the classroom and beyond,” said Henderson President Glen Jones. “Better qualified students will lead to increased retention, which will position Henderson to achieve the graduation outcomes that Gov. (Asa) Hutchinson has challenged all state colleges and universities to achieve.”
Total enrollment decreased to 3,342 students, but graduate enrollment remained steady with
497 for the fall. Henderson offers
13 master’s and educational specialist programs, most of which are offered completely online.
Most of the university’s graduate degrees are partially or completely online. The online availability is intended to be convenient for working professionals who need flexible degree or certification options.
“Henderson State has always had a commitment to providing programs — like our online offerings — that meet the needs of our community,” said Ken Taylor, dean of the Graduate School. “We will expand our offerings in the near future to include more online and doctoral programs that are designed to meet the expressed needs of our region.”
The top graduate programs are the Master of Arts in Teaching degree, clinical mental health counseling, business administration, sport administration and educational leadership. The top majors for undergraduates continue to be business administration, biology, elementary education, health sciences, recreation and accounting.
“Our online RN to BSN program has the potential to benefit many local nurses, just as the new partnership with NPC and CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs does,” Adkison said.
CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs announced a $1.6 million strategic partnership last week with both institutions to train additional nurses and grow their respective programs. Jones said the partnership will allow the university to double its number of nursing faculty and students.