WINONA, Minn. – The enrollment losses in the Saint Mary’s University undergrad Winona campus may have bottomed out and reversed. The number of new students this fall is 308, according to an early count – up a significant 40% from a year earlier. The university expects a firmer count Monday when classes begin. The freshmen move-in date was Friday, although student dorm proctors and athletes began arriving earlier. Total undergrad enrollment was 848 in 2022, a major drop after new president James Burns shut down several liberal arts programs, including theater, music and philosophy. It was a a mission shift to career-oriented fields like nursing and business. The looming question now is whether Burns’ initiative is translating into undergrad enrollment growth. At its peak, Saint Mary’s claimed 1,200 students at the Terrace Heights campus. A second program, founded in the Twin Cities in 1985 and functionally separate, is geared to part-time degree-holding students seeking advanced degrees. It has a much larger enrollment.
Earlier: SMU student loss 13%: Curriculum overhaul to blame?