(Photo courtesy of OSU-Cascades)
First-year student enrollment at Oregon State University – Cascades has increased for the ninth consecutive year, with a 2023 fall class of 225 students representing the largest in OSU-Cascades’ history and a 10.3% increase over the previous year.
The total number of students enrolled at OSU-Cascades this fall increased 3.3% over the previous year. The Bend campus now enrolls 1,313 students, including 1,058 undergraduates and 255 graduate students.
“This enrollment growth, and particularly the strong increase in first-year students, demonstrates that OSU-Cascades delivers the academic and career preparation experience that students and families are looking for,” said Sherm Bloomer, chancellor and dean of OSU-Cascades. “The growth gives us confidence as we work to achieve the goal of enrolling 2,200 students at OSU-Cascades by 2030.”
Oregon State University’s fall 2023 enrollment has reached a record for the 27th consecutive year, topping 36,000, with growth spread across its Corvallis and Bend campuses and its online education unit. With 36,636 students enrolled, up 1,397 students, or 4% over last year, Oregon State is the largest university in the state for the 10th consecutive year. More information about Oregon State’s overall fall enrollment is available at beav.es/qGd.
OSU-Cascades fall enrollment also reflects:
- 42% of OSU-Cascades students are from Central Oregon and 77.1% are from Oregon.
- Students from out-of-state increased 16.5% over a year ago. In addition, students from three other countries are enrolled.
- There are 282 students of color at OSU-Cascades making up 21.5% of the student body. Over the past five years, enrollment among students of color has increased 4.5%.
- Of 443 transfer students at OSU-Cascades, 64% are from Central Oregon, with 48% transferring from Central Oregon Community College.
- Enrollment in the OSU Honors College nearly doubled from 16 to 29 OSU-Cascades students. The honors program offers students personal advising as well as research and involvement opportunities as they work toward an honors bachelor’s degree in their academic major.
- 75 students receiving veterans’ benefits are enrolled at OSU-Cascades.
- The youngest enrolled student at OSU-Cascades is 17, and the oldest is 75. The average age of an undergraduate student is 23. The average age of a graduate student is 30.
In addition, of the class of first-year students entering OSU-Cascades from high school:
- 72% are from Oregon and 25.8% are students of color.
- 23% are first-generation college students.
- 4%, live in the on-campus residence hall.
The report also showed that 12% of first-year students came to OSU-Cascades with enough college credit to enter at the sophomore or junior level, while 57% earned some college credits while in high school. The average high school GPA of the new freshman class remains steady at 3.59, with 41% of first-year students having a high school GPA of 3.75 or higher.
The fall enrollment increase was noted across degree programs at OSU-Cascades:
- The largest undergraduate degree programs at OSU-Cascades are business administration with 134 students and computer science with 102 students.
- Several programs grew sharply: psychology (32.9%); art, media and technology (26.5%); and kinesiology (20.3%).
- The outdoor products program, launched in 2020, grew to 72 students.
- A degree program in biochemistry and molecular biology launched this fall with 19 students enrolled.
- OSU-Cascades’ Doctor of Physical Therapy program, which launched in 2021, is now at capacity with 126 students enrolled, representing three class cohorts.
- The graduate counseling degree program has 61 students.
- Twenty students are enrolled in the Master of Arts in Teaching program.
- The low-residency Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program has 18 students.
More information about OSU-Cascades fall enrollment is available at osucascades.edu/about/fall-enrollment.
