The Office of Institutional Research's final figures show record freshmen and total enrollment at UNM this year, leaving University administrators with the task of managing such an influx.
There are 3,004 freshmen at UNM this fall - about 6.5 percent more than last year.
The 25,793 students enrolled at main campus means a 4.4 percent jump from fall semester 2002.
The largest enrollment increase is in graduate students: 4,434 this year, a nearly 9 percent climb.
Associate Registrar Jep Choate could not say late Wednesday if the graduate student figure was a record.
Enrollment increases in recent years can be attributed in large part to the Lottery and Bridge to Success Scholarships, University administrators said. Improved recruitment and retention strategies also are factors.
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With so many new and returning students at UNM, a number of challenges present themselves, underscoring the need for preparation and research, Associate Provost Nancy Uscher said.
Since 2000, a group of University constituencies, including Academic Affairs, Financial Aid and the Deans Council, has sent representatives to participate on the Enrollment Management Team.
"The team was formed to look very broadly at the student population and how the University can meet its strategic goals," Uscher, a member of the team, said. "We are here to make sure students have a chance to succeed."
The team's two main goals are to make its members more aware of the University's responsibility toward students and to plan ahead, Uscher said.
"If we're going to be inclusive and accept a lot of students, we need to make sure we're offering all of them the best education we can," she said.
One project the team has undertaken is identifying a student number that will make UNM function efficiently on all levels, said Terry Babbitt, Director of Recruitment Services Terry Babbitt.
"We need to find out what the University can handle in terms of physical space, number of teachers and class sizes," Babbitt said. "We have struggled with the formula, but we're getting better at it."
Uscher said this year's record number of students didn't catch administrators by surprise. Still, she said, it's difficult to determine if a constant number best suits UNM's capabilities.
"I think we're managing well with this class," she said. "Could it be smaller? Could it be larger? Well, that depends on a lot of factors."
Until recently, Uscher said, the team focused primarily on freshmen and undergraduates. Topics of consideration now include graduate and international students.
Also on the team's agenda is "opening up the schedule" to ease the tension of the Tuesday and Thursday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. "bottleneck," when most students prefer to take classes, she said.
The team will elicit students' advice in focus groups to find out what conditions they would prefer for 8 a.m. classes, Uscher said.
"We are managing effectively, but we are also learning how we can do better," she said. "We don't want students to get shut out of classes."
