Oregon State University – Cascades is now serving a total of 1,157 undergraduate and graduate students. Included in this official fall enrollment count are 1,016 students taking classes at OSU-Cascades -- including a cohort of 60 first-ever freshmen -- as well as 141 dually-admitted students taking classes at Central Oregon Community College in preparation for transferring to OSU-Cascades.
The branch campus’s official enrollment report represents a nearly four percent increase in total OSU-Cascades students and a seven percent increase in undergraduate degree-seeking students. Graduate enrollment increased by 4.5 percent this fall. Non-degree seeking students declined as more students chose to pursue a degree.
This also represents a 10 percent increase in full-time equivalents as students increasingly take full-time course loads. About 80 percent of students are enrolled full-time, including dually-enrolled students.
The ethnic diversity of the student body increased to 17 percent, with almost half of those students identifying as Hispanic.
OSU-Cascades continues to draw students primarily from Central Oregon and Oregon, although six percent of students represent California and 22 other states.
The increase spread across majors, with the largest majors now reported as business administration including accounting, human development and family sciences, biology, natural resources, energy systems engineering, kinesiology and psychology. The recently launched computer science degree increased from 17 students to 43 students this fall.
The largest graduate program is the counseling degree program with 60 students. The Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing, now in its third year, continues to grow increasing from 18 to 24 students this fall.
OSU-Cascades is also serving an additional 82 Central Oregon students who are taking all of their courses online through OSU’s Ecampus.
The percentage of female students is leveling at 53 percent of the student body. Women comprised about 70 percent of the student population through 2010. The average age of an OSU-Cascades student is 29. The youngest enrolled student is 18; the oldest is 76.
This fall marks the last academic year that students will take classes in Cascades Hall on the Central Oregon Community College campus. Beginning fall 2016 undergraduate students will take classes on OSU-Cascades’ new campus, currently under construction near downtown Bend. Graduate students will continue to take classes at the Graduate & Research Center, a half-mile from the new campus.
About OSU-Cascades: Located in Bend, Ore., Oregon State University’s branch campus features outstanding faculty in degree programs that reflect Central Oregon’s vibrant economy and abundant natural resources. Eighteen undergraduate majors, 30 minors and options, and three graduate programs include computer science, energy systems engineering, kinesiology, hospitality management, and tourism and outdoor leadership. The branch campus expanded to a four-year university in fall 2015.