Big Freshman Class, Diversity Up At Tech

More than two thousand new students settling in this week, making for one of Tennessee Tech’s top five largest freshman classes ever.

Vice President of Enrollment and Communication Karen Lykins said this will be the school’s most diverse freshman class with almost nine percent of students being Hispanic. Lykins said they have conducted surveys that confirm the community’s awareness and perception of Tech is on the rise.

“The more students you have, the more you can offer your population,” Lykins said. “The more diversity you have, the better experience in college you have, the better preparation for careers. And so it is just a mark of the health of the university.”

Lykins said they are happy to see the current numbers but they will continue to focus on growing the student population even more in the future. She said they expect to have about 10,300 students enrolled across the whole university this year.

“If you’re consistent in bringing in about two thousand freshmen each year, then you will see your head count steadily grow because we have a great retention rate,” Lykins said. “Most of our students choose to return year after year, and so that just naturally gives you a higher head count as time goes by.”

Lykins said they want to concentrate on increasing the number of transfer students coming to the university alongside the growing freshman classes.

“We have a lot to offer,” Lykins said. “We have the ability, with our new academic buildings, with our new faculty additions, to handle growth. And we would love to see our total enrollment growth to hit around 12,000 in the very near future. And that’s very possible as long as we keep marketing, communicating, and serving most of all students in this region and across the state.”

Lykins said their official enrollment numbers are calculated two weeks after the first day of classes on Thursday.