Spring enrollment at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff has dropped below 1,800 students, according to data from the University of Arkansas System.
UAPB’s enrollment stood at 1,783 as of the 11th day of this semester, according to system spokesman Nate Hinkel. UA System institutions capture the number on the 11th day as some students enroll late and some drop classes as each semester goes on, he said.
This marks the third spring semester in a row UAPB’s enrollment has been less than 2,000, according to available online data. In the fall of 2012, UAPB numbered 2,828, its highest since 4,075 (including special enrollment from correctional facilities) enrolled at the school in the fall of 1993, according to a chart of UAPB’s historical fall enrollment from 1942-2020.
Fall enrollment at UAPB has remained higher than 2,000 since 1962, when it rose from 1,942 the year before to 2,227. Spring numbers are usually lower as some students graduate in December.
UAPB experienced an upswing in fall semester enrollment from 2,498 in 2019 to 2,668 in 2020, months after covid-19 was declared a pandemic. Fall 2024 enrollment was 2,049, a drop from 2,100 in Fall 2023. UAPB had enrolled 2,670 in the fall of 2021 — an increase by 2 from the previous year — and 2,387 in 2022.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Last September Interim Chancellor Andrea Stewart reported a 7% increase in new student enrollment from Fall 2023 to Fall 2024. Incoming transfer students had surged 39% from that time period, it was reported.
UAPB also saw a big increase in first-time enrollees and transfers from 4,732 in 2023 to more than 7,500 in 2024, Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management Moses Goldmon said in September during a UA System Board meeting at UAPB. Stewart and Goldmon could not immediately be reached for this article.
The University of Arkansas at Monticello has increased its spring enrollment at least each of the last two years. UAM went from 2,377 in Spring 2023 to 2,496 in Spring 2024 to 2,552 this spring.
UAM’s Fall 2024 enrollment was 2,843, its highest for fall since 2,855 in 2019. UAM has never reached the 4,000-student mark in its fall enrollment but topped 3,900 three times in recent history — 3,920 in 2011, 3,945 in 2012 and 3,924 in 2016.
UAM’s enrollment numbers include those from its main campus in Monticello and the Colleges of Technology in Crossett and McGehee, which UAM acquired in 2003.
Southeast Arkansas College announced earlier this month its enrollment is nearing pre-covid-19 numbers. Spring 2025 enrollment at the two-year college in Pine Bluff is 1,052, an increase of 184 from Spring 2024 but a slight drop from 1,083 in Fall 2024.
SEARK and UAM conclude spring break Friday.