FAMU is on track to hit the 14,000 student mark as early as summer 2011.Over the past two years, FAMU has recorded a net increase of more than 1,200 students between the fall and summer. FAMU posted its highest ever fall enrollment at the beginning of this school year with 13,284. The university only needs 716 more students to reach 14,000 by the close of the fiscal year ending (FYE) on June 30, 2011.
The university completed FYE 2009 with an unduplicated headcount of 13,146 students, an increase of 1,289 over Fall 2008. FAMU completed FYE 2010 with an unduplicated headcount of 13,642 students, an increase of 1,395 over Fall 2009.
Fall headcounts are generally lower than the year-end headcounts because some FAMU students do not register for classes every semester. Nontraditional students who balance school and fulltime work are part of this group.
The current student body is still smaller than FAMU’s classroom capacity. In 1997, President Frederick S. Humphries and then-Provost James Ammons announced their goal of expanding FAMU’s student body to at least 15,000 by 2003. After the Board of Regents approved the plan, FAMU based its classroom building construction on that anticipated number.
When Ammons took over as president in 2007, he recommitted FAMU to getting its enrollment up to 15,000, the number it was supposed to reach years ago.
The enrollment boosts are a critical part of Ammons’ strategy to increase the university’s budget and save as many faculty and staff jobs as possible. FAMU is using funds from this year’s enrollment increase to provide a $1,000 base salary raise for its personnel.
Recent Enrollment Trends
Fall 2008: 11,857
Total FYE 2009: 13,146
Net Increase: 1,289
Fall 2009: 12,274
Total FYE 2010: 13,642
Net Increase: 1,395
Fall 2010: 13,284
Source: FAMU Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) reports.