Texas A&M Summer Enrollment Increases 18 Percent

Enrollment for summer school sessions at Texas A&M University totaled 27,689, which includes undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students.

The figure is an 18 percent increase from last year’s 23,465 total, and includes students from the flagship campus in College Station, the Health Science Center and Texas A&M’s campus in Galveston.

Joseph Pettibon, vice president for enrollment and academic services, said that the vast majority of this increase is due to undergraduate students, particularly continuing students who took advantage of online and remote summer classes to progress toward their degrees.

In addition to increased summer enrollment, there was a slight increase in the number of hours taken during the summer. Pettibon credits these rises to the $1.5 million added to faculty salaries to offer additional classes.

“Because we invested in additional hiring of faculty, we were able to offer more sections of courses, particularly those in high demand,” Pettibon said. “We saw the enrollment increases across all of the different courses we have, but one thing we focused on was increasing specific offerings that we knew were high demand.”

Carol Fierke, provost and executive vice president, said the increased enrollment numbers are a success.

“The growth in summer enrollment represents our successful efforts to elevate the availability of course sections to enhance student success and to invest in faculty while maintaining the outstanding quality of educational opportunities that Texas A&M is known for throughout the globe,” Fierke said.

Pettibon said increased enrollment in spite of challenges such as COVID-19 shows that people appreciate the quality of courses offered and speaks to the university’s ability to adapt to an environment that allows for more course offerings.

Fall classes at Texas A&M begin Aug. 19.