UVA Wise Sees Enrollment Growth for Two Consecutive Years

The University of Virginia’s College at Wise (UVA Wise) announced this week that it has experienced two consecutive years of enrollment growth in fall 2023 and fall 2024. 

UVA Wise’s growth is a result of many intentional efforts laid out in the College’s strategic plan, Your College for a Lifetime, as well as July 2022 investment from the Virginia General Assembly. The growth suggests that the College is succeeding against trends noted in statewide and national reports that have implied that small colleges are seeing declining enrollment. 

In fall 2023, UVA Wise enrolled 1,834 students, an increase of 8% from fall 2022 numbers. In fall 2024, the College enrolled 2,253 students, a 23% increase from the previous fall. Notably, 1,309 of those students are degree-seeking undergraduate students, with the College’s Center for Teaching Excellence course offerings, an add-on endorsement program in library media and a new Master of Education program accounting for the remainder of the students enrolled. 

For Chancellor Donna P. Henry, the College’s growth is the result of many long-term, cross-campus strategies. 

“For more than a decade, UVA Wise has been working strategically to buck the national trends of declining enrollment for small, rural colleges,” Chancellor Henry says. “We’ve created numerous initiatives to enhance student educational opportunities and outcomes through enrollment growth, and it’s gratifying to see that show in real-time results.” 

Strategic Growth Initiatives

UVA Wise’s consistent and concerted efforts to enhance enrollment date to more than a decade ago and most notably include securing a reduced tuition rate for residents of the Appalachian Regional Commission, which stretches from New York to Mississippi, in 2018. 

In 2022-23, a General Assembly investment of more than $12 million provided the impetus needed to grow UVA Wise the two following years. With that investment, the College developed new academic programs to diversify student career pathways and increase regional job creation. The programs included a Master of Education, an online business major and a hospitality and tourism major. During this period of growth, the College also increased enrollment in their RN to BSN program. 

At the same time, UVA Wise signed an agreement with Virginia Highlands Community College to assist with bachelor’s degree attainment in critical technology fields and partnered with Mountain Empire Community College on a SCHEV grant to facilitate bachelor’s degree completion. 

In addition to new academic programs and partnerships the College also implemented innovative recruitment processes that broke down barriers to enrollment. These included simplifying and digitizing the admissions application and removing its application and enrollment deposit fees.

UVA Wise expanded its Within Reach Program to package scholarships and aid to cover the tuition and fees of Virginia students whose families earn less than $80,000 a year, which had a previous income threshold of $40,000 when it was introduced in 2019.

Furthermore, the College introduced the Little Cavaliers Early Learning Center to enhance recruitment and retention of both employees and students, and renovated and expanded Don R. Pippin and John C. Wyllie Hall, which is the new home of the College’s nursing department and significantly increases its capacity to train healthcare practitioners.

While the previously mentioned growth was accomplished, UVA Wise was also the only public institution in Virginia to secure Board approval to hold tuition flat for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 academic years.

Looking Toward the Future

While UVA Wise’s growth strategies are working in terms of enrollment numbers, College leaders are quick to point out that their larger aim is to enhance student educational opportunities and outcomes by helping all students graduate and find success and fulfillment. And they aren’t done yet. 

“It’s important to note that we are still working to monitor broader demographic trends affecting higher education enrollment,” says Jeffrey Baylor, UVA Wise vice chancellor for enrollment. 

Baylor says the College is seeing record numbers of applications for admission year over year and attributes that to direct admissions partnerships, such as one through Niche.com, and increased student engagement. 

The College’s housing is full, student engagement opportunities are seeing double and triple the number of students participating when compared to previous years, and student attendance at events is also increasing. When combined with other metrics, this shows that the College not only is admitting more students but more students are succeeding on campus and following their graduation. 

And UVA Wise’s key supporters have been driving these initiatives as well. Throughout the past decade, the College’s alumni and friends have made gifts that have increased UVA Wise’s endowment from $45 million at the close of the 2013 fiscal year to more than $168 million at the close of the 2023 fiscal year, with approximately 80% of its funds directed toward student scholarships.

“Our College focuses daily on providing affordable and accessible higher education that is attainable for students now and in the future,” Chancellor Henry says. “In addition to realizing enrollment goals and generating additional revenue, our community remains committed to keeping student opportunities affordable. We’re grateful for the investments of our alumni and friends as well as the Virginia General Assembly in making that possible.”