Enrollment Record at Texas State University

A record-setting announcement was made for the 2013 fall semester at Texas State University regarding the enrollment of 35,568 students, as opposed to 34,225 students for the 2012 fall semester.

This marks the 16th consecutive year that Texas State has had a new record for enrollment. Texas State officials are quite pleased, as this is something to boast about, yet some of the students have a different mindset about the growing population.

"This new high in student enrollment demonstrates that Texas State continues to be a leading university in the state, and that students and their families recognize our institution offers both an outstanding educational experience as well as an exceptional value," said Texas State President Denis M. Trauth.

With the amount of students at the University being at an all-time high, there have been mixed emotions in whether this is seen as something beneficial or not. When students were interviewed throughout the campus about this record high and how it has affected them, answers varied. Ongoing issues seemed to be traffic, parking and construction with most upperclassmen that were interviewed. In addition, finding spaces in classes seemed to be a problem.

"Its kind of annoying. Parking sucks. Luckily I live at the vistas so I can walk to class. Otherwise I'd  be screwed," said senior Gina Adibi.

"Well, people have complained about traffic and I will agree there's a lot of cars on the road. Construction is so frustrating cause it seems like it's always going on," said senior Mason Randolph."They should set a goal, like, 3,500 students and then try to accommodate those many students, like making more parking spots and stuff rather than just building more dorms," he said.

  "Trying to find space in all of my classes has been hard, especially in my music classes," said sophomore Derek Thigpem.


Not all students seemed to be so low about the growth at the University. Some students specifically came to Texas State because of its diversity and population, while some did not notice a difference at all.
 
"As a freshman it was normal for me," said freshman Annat Rosenthal. In addition she felt like the university was the perfect size for her and that is why she wanted to attend in the first place.


When Freshman Victoria Herrera was interviewed, she had positive things to say about the growth as well as the university in general.
 "It's a good thing because I'm one of those people. I started last semester. It gives you a chance to meet people from all walks of life. I really like the small town of San Marcos and the campus is big but not overwhelming," she said.


Texas State continues to grow and diversify. Only time will tell if this trend will continue and if the student body will embrace the ever growing population.