JSU enrollment declines

Jacksonville State University has had a long time goal of reaching an enrollment of ten thousand students.  While they have been inching closer to that goal in recent years, the figures have dropped this year with a current enrollment of 8,659 students this fall marking the fourth consecutive year of declining enrollment.

The university  points to several other measures officials saw as positive, including an all-time high in the average ACT exam score of the freshman class (22.6, compared to 22.5 in 2013, and 22.3 in 2012), and a record-high percentage (72 percent) of former freshmen sticking around for their sophomore year.

Last October, JSU established new, more rigorous admission requirments, implementing a minimum grade point average and increasing the ACT score requirement for freshmen. Officials have said that the new  admissions

requirements would likely increase enrollment, by ensuring the students who are admitted to the university are prepared for college-level coursework and will persist to graduation.