Delaware State University sets enrollment record, improves student retention

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The steps Delaware State University continues taking to attract students have led to record enrollment even as college attendance has dropped nationwide.

University president Tony Allen said 6,451 students were enrolled for the fall semester, an increase of 3.5% from last year, and 23% higher since 2020.

“We have overcome some notable trends in higher education,’’ Allen said, noting a report from the National Student Clearinghouse that shows enrollment falling across America for over a decade. “It’s been a journey and we’ve been fortunate. That’s why I’m cautiously optimistic about it.”

One program boosting enrollment has been the Inspire Scholarship, a state-sponsored program that offers four years of free tuition to all Delaware high school graduates who have a 2.75 grade point average. Allen said that 79% of Delaware State’s 750 first-year in-state students have Inspire scholarships.

Another successful tool has been the Early College School, a dual enrollment program that lets Delaware middle and high school students earn up to 60 credits from the university.  Some 600 students are now in the program, which begins as early as middle school, and “about 60% of them are coming to Delaware State,” Allen said.

Also fueling the growth is an increase in graduate students, who now number nearly 900, as well as more transfer students and a boost to online enrollment, which is now at almost 800 students, about 40% of them living in the Caribbean, Allen said.

In addition, the Dover school boosted enrollment by several hundred students with the 2021 acquisition of Wesley College, also located in Dover.