Sept. 8, 2020

FLORENCE, AL - Officials at the University of North Alabama anticipate a record enrollment for Fall 2020 thanks to a four percent growth from Fall 2019; the news comes despite ongoing challenges related to the global pandemic.

"Like many other colleges and universities, UNA was also affected by the pandemic, but, unlike many of those other institutions, this University is seeing an increase in enrollment among most of its student populations, including our online and graduate students," said UNA President Dr. Ken Kitts. "This year's success is a credit to the hard work among those on this campus, especially Admissions Director Julie Taylor and her team, along with many others."

The freshman cohort is slightly smaller this fall, while transfer enrollment is flat. Many international students transitioned successfully to the online environment when pandemic conditions prevented them from traveling to campus earlier this year. The expectation is that international students will return to UNA once travel conditions improve. Thanks to partnerships with universities in China and India, online enrollment among international students is growing.

"Our enrollment growth this fall really is the product of a diversified and intentional 'smart growth' strategy that we have employed for some time now," said Dr. Ross Alexander, Provost and Executive Vice President. "As the UNA brand continues to resonate with a diverse and growing constituency of learners, we are seeing that translate into an increased interest and subsequent enrollment at UNA for learners at all levels - local, regional, national, and international."

Alexander also said that the enrollment growth this fall was spread across all of the academic colleges, with the College of Business and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions experiencing the greatest gains.

"Our College of Business will boast over 1,200 online graduate students this fall, which includes our MBA and our Master of Accountancy program," he said. "We continue to see growth trends among our online and graduate student populations, and now UNA's student body is approximately 30 percent graduate students and 30 percent online students."

UNA's final enrollment figures are expected Oct. 30, after the second wave of eight-week classes that do not begin until mid-October.

About The University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs through the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business, Education and Human Sciences, and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of the NCAA Division I's ASUN Big South Conference. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: www.una.edu and www.una.edu/unaworks/