Cedar City is growing and so is Southern Utah University, which now surpasses 15,000 enrolled students for a new record. With a 4.9% increase for fall 2023, SUU is the fastest-growing university in the state of Utah for the second straight year.
President Mindy Benson is excited to elevate SUU’s profile as a high-quality public university.
“Students are choosing SUU for our commitment to access, affordability, academic programs and, most of all, the student-centric experience,” Benson stated in an interview with SUU, “where we offer small class sizes and educators who are invested in mentoring our students for their future careers.”
SUU has moved its focus toward expanding flexible online courses to meet the needs of students. This shift has led to a 26% enrollment increase in the online programs and offers students high quality, affordable online degrees available across the nation and worldwide.
This has also promoted an 18% increase in SUU’s graduate programs, which are exclusively online.
These increases have carried over to SUU’s undergraduate degrees. SUU houses students from all 29 counties in Utah and from all 50 states. There was an 8% increase in the university’s undergraduate program, and 24% of students are first-generation college students.
International students, representing 85 different countries and territories, are a big part of SUU’s student population and made the jump from 748 in 2022 to 832 this year, an 11.2% increase of non-domestic students.
Most universities felt negative impacts on their student population after the COVID-19 pandemic. However, after the pandemic, SUU grew by 19.5% from its 2020 enrollment due to their efforts of bringing in new students and providing resources that keep them there for their entire college careers.
Story: Chevy Blackburn
Editor: Chevy Blackburn
Photo courtesy of SUU Athletics
