JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – For the third consecutive year, Edward Waters University has exceeded the 1,100 student enrollment mark, reaching its second-highest overall enrollment in nearly two decades, the school said.
According to a news release, Florida’s first independent institution for higher learning and first historically black college or university (HBCU), reported a total of 1,175 students enrolled for the fall of 2023. This represents an increase of 4.27% in total new students (537) over last fall (515), the school said. Moreover, the university is experiencing an increase of 26.07% in overall student enrollment since 2019 (932).
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“In many circles Edward Waters is often mentioned largely for its historical significance, which is something for which we are unabashedly proud” said EWU President and CEO, Dr. A. Zachary Faison, Jr. “We are equally proud, however, of our recent phenomenal enrollment growth that is representative of our contemporaneous relevance as a thriving institution that is rapidly becoming a ‘destination institution’ of choice amongst college-going students and their parents as a result of our high quality and expanding academic programs, dedicated university faculty and staff, and commitment towards providing a stellar student experience that is primarily focused upon ensuring our students’ personal, academic, and professional success.”
In addition, EWU received over 10,000 applications for the current 2023-2024 academic year, which represents a nearly 10% increase in total applications received over fall 2022.
“The extraordinarily positive enrollment results being experienced at EWU can be directly attributed to the commitment, relentless efforts, and focused collaborative work of the dedicated members of our cross-institutional Strategic Enrollment and Retention Team (S.E.R.T),” President Faison said.
According to the university, among the 537 new students, nearly 50 of them are enrolled in the institution’s recently launched online graduate degree programs, including Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Education Policy and Advocacy.