University of Portland & Several Other Oregon Private Colleges Report Increase in Enrollments Heading Into Fall

Several private colleges in Oregon, which saw a slight drop in enrollments amid the COVID-19 pandemic, have now reported an increase in the number of enrollments while heading into the fall semester.

This year, Oregon’s largest private university, the University of Portland (UP), is also seeing around 150 more freshmen committed to university next term compared to a year earlier, from 809 in 2020 up to 957 during this fall semester. Different from 2020, the university is also expected to host more international students next semester, Erudera.com reports.

Portland’s Reed College Vice President and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, Milyon Trulove, also confirmed that the college has seen an increase in the number of incoming students, noting that there are over 500 freshmen confirmed for this fall term, which figure was 340 students over the same period of time last year.

Trulove expressed enthusiasm regarding this increase, adding that Reed will also see record numbers of domestic students of color this fall. As per international students, Trulove stressed that the arriving class might be the same in numbers as in 2020, claiming that international students are struggling to receive their visas on time and well as to book flights due to the pandemic.

Furthermore, Lewis & Clark College announced that more than 700 students accepted the College of Arts and Sciences’s offers for the fall semester, meaning it will welcome one of the largest classes ever before. The incoming class will also have the highest number of students of color ever in college, accounting for 28 percent of the student community.

Lewis & Clark Vice President for Admissions and Financial Aid, Eric Staab, said it is possible that by the end of this month some students from that class might drop out, yet added that there will still be an increase compared to the previous largest class of 654 students in 2015.

According to him, the reason behind the potential increase in the number of students expected to attend the college is the latter successfully managing online outreach amid pandemic about college’s programs and offers.

“I think we did a really good job in the admissions office and the financial aid office of pivoting and getting adjusted to recruiting students in a COVID era,” Staab added.

Last year, many private institutions in Oregon, where the number of students in the classroom was smaller, held hybrid or in-person lessons after performing regular COVID-19 testing and following other safety rules.