Springfield-area colleges report starting attendance

Last edited 12:16 p.m., Aug. 20, 2024 [Editor's note: The official census date at MSU has been corrected.]

Tens of thousands of college students are settling in for the fall semester at Springfield-area higher learning institutions.

Nearly 33,000 students were reported by area colleges when issued a request for information by Springfield Business Journal.

At Missouri State University, the largest local higher-ed institution, opening day attendance yesterday was 17,639 students at the main Springfield campus, said Emily Letterman, public relations strategist for the university.

"That is preliminarily down 3.6% from last year," Letterman said, noting the official census day is Sept. 23. "However, we are up 4.4% in underrepresented students."

Ozarks Technical Community College Director of Communications Donna Barton said starting attendance is 10,080. The school last year reported 9,962 students at the start of the fall semester, according to past reporting.

Among starting day statistics, Ozarks Tech is up 20% in health sciences enrollment and up 14% in dual-credit courses, Barton said.

More than 2,400 students are enrolled at Evangel University, said Erin Hedlun, the school's senior director of marketing and communications. That's up about 3% from last fall, she said.

The official census date is Sept. 13 at Evangel, said Hedlun.

Drury University has an estimated 1,390 students enrolled, but the figure isn't finalized, said Shanda Trautman, executive director of marketing and communications.

"2024 will be the second consecutive year we’ve been up in overall enrollment numbers," Trautman said, noting 435 new students started this fall, up from 420 a year earlier.

Sept. 3 is the official census date at Drury, she said.

Cox College has roughly 730 students for the fall semester, said Amy Townsend, the school's president.

"This is slightly down from last year, which is expected with the Alliance for Healthcare Education," Townsend said.

Cox College is preparing to merge its programming into the newly created Alliance for Healthcare Education, a partnership of CoxHealth, MSU, Ozarks Tech and Springfield Public Schools, according to past reporting.

Mission University President Mark Milioni said the Springfield school had 431 students as of yesterday, with the semester starting Aug. 12.

"This is a great increase for us of 60 students," he said, noting its fall census date is Sept. 9.

SBJ was unable to confirm starting enrollment data with College of the Ozarks and Southwest Baptist University by deadline.