(Canyon)—The total student body and Hispanic population continue to grow at West Texas A&M University.
Preliminary 12th-class-day enrollment figures were released Feb. 1 for the spring 2007 semester. While the university experienced an overall student-body increase of 30 students, less than 1 percent, the number of Hispanic students increased by 92, a 9 percent leap from the spring 2006 semester.
With the surge, Hispanic students now number 1,080 at WTAMU, comprising 15.4 percent of the overall student body, the highest percentage ever for that particular ethnic group.
The previous high was established in the fall 2006 semester, when Hispanics comprised 15.1 percent of the WTAMU student body.
Shawn Thomas, director of admissions, attributes the dramatic increase in Hispanic students to the university’s recruitment efforts, special programs for first-year college students and regional and state demographics that continue to show steady increases in the Hispanic population.
“It’s a combination of all those,” Thomas said. “There is an increasing talent pool in the Hispanic community, and our efforts to bring a greater percentage of that talent to West Texas A&M is working.
“We intend to continue looking at ways to better serve the regional Hispanic community.”
Hispanics are not the only ethnic group to experience an enrollment increase this semester. WTAMU’s Asian American population grew by 18 students, and its Native American population grew by 11. Both increases represent a 17-percent rise in enrollment from spring 2006.
Overall, WTAMU’s enrollment is 7,004, according to the preliminary 12th-class-day report, 30 students more than during the spring 2006 semester, when the university had 6,974 students on the 12th day of classes. 