With an unprecedented enrollment of 3,291 students that far surpasses expectations, the St. Ambrose University student body has set a record for the third consecutive year.

"Our remarkable student numbers are the result of dedicated faculty members who go out of their way to give students personal attention, supportive alumni, hard-working staff and community benefactors, all who make St. Ambrose a nurturing environment for our students," said Dr. Edward Rogalski, St. Ambrose president. "Our history-making enrollment reflects the outstanding effort of our entire St. Ambrose community."

"St. Ambrose is experiencing phenomenal growth at a time when many independent institutions are struggling just to maintain enrollments, especially in light of the cost of private education compared to the cost of state tuition," said Craig Engel, vice president at Noel-Levitz, a consulting firm that has worked as a partner with St. Ambrose in long-range enrollment planning.

In the fall of the year 2000, enrollment grew to a record-setting 3,011 as the university surpassed its "3,000 by 2000" goal. The 2001 fall enrollment of 3,291 surpasses last year's fall enrollment by 280 students.

"It's exciting to realize, and go beyond, our strategic goal of enrollment growth," said Jamie Loftus, vice president for enrollment management. "All the major sectors of the university-first-year and transfer undergraduates, adult, professional and graduate students-have seen significant growth this year."

Loftus attributes the remarkable growth to "excellent faculty and academic programs, a more targeted and successful marketing approach, improved residence facilities and sophisticated technological improvements."

This fall, St. Ambrose has 2,271 undergraduate students and 1,020 graduate students compared to 2,114 undergraduate and 897 graduate students last fall. In the fall of 2000, 985 students were living on campus. St. Ambrose now has 1,095 students living in residence halls. The record-breaking enrollment includes 1,926 women and 1,365 men.

 "St. Ambrose has paid attention to detail and builds relationships well. That includes personal touches such as personalized communications, strong campus visit programs and knowledgeable student tour guides," Engel said.

St. Ambrose traditionally declares its annual official census on the 20th working day of classes, which was Sept. 24 this year.

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