The enrollment bump represents a 415-person increase in returning students and a 35-person increase in new students.

“Having (the returning numbers) be much stronger than we predicted is really a surprise and speaks well for the institution,” MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said.

New graduate and graduate professional student enrollment increased by 154
students, consistent with a national trend of more people attending grad school after failing to find jobs in the stagnant economy, experts said.

“The schools that enroll greater numbers of adult and independent learners are going to see an increase,” said Jill Kramer, a senior program officer for the Indianapolis-based Lumina Foundation for Education, which works to expand access to higher education.

The university received a total of 25,392 applications for this academic year, which resulted in a first-time fall class of 7,215 students.

“Our applications and the quality of our applications continue to remain right on target,” MSU Trustee Melanie Foster said. “We’re not looking for students. We turn away about 1,000 more qualified students than we have the space for.”

The total undergraduate class is estimated at 36,400 students, a slight decrease
from last year.

University officials have attributed this to stricter admissions standards meant to keep the student body from growing too large.

Other schools in the state and in the Big Ten reported experiencing similar increases in enrollment numbers.

Central Michigan University experienced a record on-campus enrollment of 20,444 and a slight increase in overall enrollment at 27,357, spokesman Steven F. Smith said.

Indiana University’s Bloomington campus graduate and undergraduate enrollment for the 2009-10 is 42,347 students, a 4.9 percent increase from last year.

“We were expecting an increase in enrollment,” said Steve Hinnefeld, an Indiana University spokesman. “The extent of the increase was something we were surprised by.”

Rick Fitzgerald, spokesman for the University of Michigan, said he expects a
freshman class of about 6,000 this fall but wouldn’t comment on whether that represents a growth or decline in enrollment.

Although the economic climate has been tough, it does not seem to be stopping prospective students from pursuing a college education, MSU economics professor Charles Ballard said.

“Who is your marginal customer?” he said. “There are a lot of people who go to
MSU who are from sufficiently affluent families (and) the fact that we’re in a recession did not deter those families from going to college.”

Official counts of enrolled MSU students will be available Sept. 28, said James Cotter, director of the Office of Admissions.

“I don’t anticipate huge shifts,” he said. “(But) one never knows until everybody shows up.”