TAMU-T Has Record Freshman Enrollment

A&M-Texarkana Soars to New Freshman Enrollment Record

TEXARKANA, Texas – Texas A&M University-Texarkana recently announced that a record number of new, first-time students enrolled for the fall 2020 semester. Many colleges and universities nationwide have faced enrollment declines due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the economic disturbance. Despite those obstacles, TAMUT had enrolled the largest freshman class since the university’s downward expansion in 2010, when it first began accepting underclassman admissions. The number of new, first-time college students enrolled at A&M-Texarkana jumped from 217 in 2019 to 298 this semester, giving the university’s freshman class a 37% bump while total enrollment rose 2,214 from last year’s 2,103.

“We are all very pleased with our enrollment numbers, particularly during such challenging times,” said university president Dr. Emily Cutrer, who attributes the rise in enrollment to multiple factors. “We have an amazing admissions and recruitment team at TAMUT. They had to adapt and change their methods for recruiting and staying in touch with potential students because of the pandemic.” Dr. Cutrer also said that the addition of new degree programs and facilities likely played a role in the increase. “We have added two highly sought after degrees to our academic programs this fall,” added Cutrer. “This fall we launched a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering to go along with the electrical engineering degree we already offered, and we’re in the process of opening up a state-of-the-art Computer-Aided Design lab. We’ve also launched a master’s degree in social work, which has generated a great deal of interest as well.”

“We understand that great customer service and remaining engaged with potential students throughout the enrollment process is the key to success,” said Toney Favors, TAMUT’s Assistant Vice President for Admissions and Recruiting. “Our admissions team worked closely with other departments like Student Life, Student Success, and Financial Aid. They were able to collaborate and come up with great ways to stay in contact with our potential students, even when they couldn’t meet with them in person.” Favors said that online games and events like “Admissions Q&A,” “Virtual Scavenger Hunt,” and “Bingo Night” were all well-received by the incoming students and provided them an opportunity to interact not only with admissions staff but also other incoming students.

The fall semester for TAMUT students began on August 24th, but TAMUT’s admissions team is already well into recruiting the freshman class of 2021. Natalie McGuire, Coordinator of Dallas Recruitment, says that there have been many changes to how college recruiters have to work during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We find ourselves shifting the way we do things almost daily, as new challenges present themselves,” said McGuire. “All recruiting visits and college fairs are now online because most schools won’t allow any outside visitors on campus this year. We’re always learning to take advantage of new platforms and creative ways to stay in touch with prospective students and their counselors.”

Students interested in learning more about Texas A&M University-Texarkana should visit the university’s website at www.tamut.edu or email admissions@tamut.edu.