Enrollment at public universities is increasing across Texas, not just at UT-Austin.

Texas A&M University, the University of North Texas, Texas State University, Texas Tech University and the University of Houston all saw increased enrollments this year. This is the 15th consecutive year Texas State’s and the fourth consecutive year Texas Tech’s enrollments have increased.

Texas Tech admissions director Ethan Logan said the downturn in the national economy has contributed to statewide increased enrollment, among other factors.

“Generally, when you have a downturn in the economy you have an upturn in enrollment,” Logan said. “The economy starts to depress, and there are a lot of folks who want to go to college to improve the opportunity to get a job and make a good wage.”

UT-Austin admitted 8,092 first-year students this fall, which is a 13.2-percent increase from last year and its largest in history. UT’s total enrollment is the second largest in the school’s history at 52,213.

The University did not plan to admit so many students this year. Every year, the University offers admissions assuming that some students will decline admissions offers. More students than anticipated accepted admission offers.

While UT faced problems with its increased enrollment, including housing issues, other institutions were expecting or working for their increase.

Texas A&M’s total enrollment has reached more than 50,000. This is the first time A&M has passed the 50,000-student milestone.

In an email, Texas A&M spokesperson Jason Cook said the large student body has not caused the university any problems.

“University officials here anticipated the increases and planned accordingly, so the effects of the larger student body have been manageable,” Cook said.

Fall 2012 marked the 15th consecutive year Texas State has set a new record for its enrollment. Total enrollment was at 34,229, up from 34,113 last year. Texas State saw its second largest incoming freshman class at 4,251 students.

Texas Tech has also seen a steady increase in its enrollment figures for multiple years. This is the fourth consecutive year of increased enrollment. Logan said Tech has been working on increasing its enrollment since 2008. He said the university’s goal is to reach 40,000 students by 2020.

Logan said the increase is designed to be gradual so that Texas Tech’s resources are not taxed.

“At this point we have not reached a critical increase that has challenged the resources of our institution,” Logan said. “We are trying to be conservative in the effort in growing the enrollment.”

He said the university is responding to the steady increase with new resources. For example, Texas Tech opened a new residential hall this year.

University of North Texas saw a 9.2-percent increase in its first-year enrollment to 4,444 students.

The University of Houston also saw an increase in its total enrollment but a decrease in first-year students.

Despite enrollment increases in many Texas universities, the U.S. Department of Education released a report Tuesday that found the number of undergraduates in the country dropped from 18.65 million students in 2010 to 18.62 million students in 2011.

Printed on Wednesday, October 10, 2012 as: Enrollment increases across Texas