About 10,000 new students enrolled at Oregon State University this fall, a group that edges past the school’s previous high-water mark set in fall 2024, according to preliminary figures released Thursday.
Total enrollment across all OSU campuses stands at 37,460 students, slightly below last year’s record. Of that total, about 25,000 attend classes on the Corvallis campus, just under 11,000 study entirely online through Ecampus and about 1,250 attend OSU-Cascades in Bend.
The university has been Oregon’s largest for 13 consecutive years. This fall’s student body includes students from all 36 Oregon counties, all 50 states and more than 100 countries.
The count of new students includes nondegree and readmitted students. New undergraduate enrollment across Corvallis, Bend and Ecampus is running 7% ahead of last fall.
On-campus undergraduates in Corvallis, the university’s largest student group, increased 1.3% from a year ago.
Prem Mathew, OSU’s interim vice provost for enrollment management, said the university has kept enrollment close to steady despite a shrinking pool of college-age Oregonians and national pressures on graduate enrollment. He credited recruitment of undergraduates from other states.
Nonresident undergraduates on the Corvallis campus increased 4.5%. Along with neighboring California and Washington, students are arriving from fast-growing states such as Texas and Idaho. Across all campuses, nonresidents make up 47% of OSU undergraduates and 64% of graduate students.
Mathew said the shift does not mean the university is moving away from serving Oregonians, noting that in-state applicants are being admitted at rates similar to previous years. He described the trend as a reflection of population changes nationwide.
“We’re seeing increasing interest from students in states with growing high school graduate populations, and our enrollment marketing efforts are leveraging that opportunity,” Mathew said.
International enrollment has slipped, mirroring national patterns. The decline is concentrated among graduate students, where international enrollment fell 21%. The university attributed the drop to recruiting obstacles that include visa processing delays and denials. International undergraduate enrollment, however, rose 6% from last fall.
The College of Engineering remains OSU’s largest college, with notable gains in civil engineering (36%), electrical and computer engineering (28%), mechanical engineering (19%) and environmental engineering (19%). Animal sciences, interior design, organizational leadership, French, philosophy and creative writing also posted significant increases.
- Washington, California, Hawaii, Colorado and Texas, in that order, sent the most new out-of-state students to the Corvallis campus.
- Enrollment in professional programs, including pharmacy, veterinary medicine and physical therapy, rose 6%.
- About 23% of undergraduates are the first in their families to attend college.
- Roughly one in four resident students received an Oregon Opportunity Grant.
- Transfer enrollment rose 2% overall, including 5% in Corvallis and 1% through Ecampus.
The figures are preliminary. OSU will finalize its official fall enrollment in late October, during the fourth week of the term.