Mayville_State_University_Old_Main-web.jpgMayville State University’s all-time enrollment record has been topped for the fifth-straight year. Final Fall Semester 2016 figures show a two percent increase, with 1,130 students enrolled, breaking the previous record of 1,110 students enrolled which was set in 2015. This is the sixth enrollment record set in the last seven years.

Concurrent with the increasing enrollment trend at Mayville State, the number of North Dakota residents who are students at Mayville State has continued to grow. The number of North Dakota residents enrolled has increased by nearly 24% during the last seven years.

“We are very pleased with the enrollment gains at Mayville State University,” said Mayville State University President Dr. Gary Hagen, “and we’re especially excited about having broken the all-time record for the fifth-straight year. Our faculty and staff work hard to provide flexible and meaningful educational opportunities for all students. It is our privilege to serve the people of North Dakota by providing high-quality educational programs at a great value.”

Among the students enrolled at Mayville State University this fall are individuals who are seeking to earn the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree, Mayville State’s first master’s degree. The North Dakota State Board of Education granted Mayville State permission to offer the MAT degree last spring. This was done in an effort to help ease North Dakota’s teacher shortage by encouraging mid-career professionals in other fields to go into the classroom. The Higher Learning Commission, the university’s accrediting agency, gave Mayville State the green light to proceed late in August of 2016. Even with this late approval, five students have enrolled in the MAT program this fall, and another 39 have expressed interest. Retention of first-time, full time students at Mayville State has increased by more than 11% from the fall of 2015 to the fall of 2016.

"We are working hard to ensure that our students have good experiences and are successful in their studies,” said MSU Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Andrew Pflipsen. “We have made an investment in these students, and their success is important to us.”

MSU offers a variety of extended learning opportunities to meet the diverse needs of today’s students. Distance students may enroll as non-degree-seekers or pursue degree programs in business administration; early childhood; mathematics; university studies; and elementary, early childhood, and mathematics education. A completely online RN to BSN program is beginning its second year. The CCNE accredited program is designed with the flexibility to accommodate working RNs who want to become nurses at the baccalaureate level.

Mayville State offers new majors in early childhood special education, elementary special education, and secondary special education. This program serves to meet the demand for special education professionals in North Dakota, and ensures that teachers possess adequate and appropriate content knowledge and special pedagogy for the grades and subjects they teach. The special education major can be incorporated within traditional teacher preparation or added to an existing degree. All courses within the major are available on campus and online.

MSU also partners with Lake Region State College in Devils Lake, N.D. to offer four-year degrees in business administration, elementary education, and early childhood. Mayville offers similar opportunities in elementary education on the NDSCS campus in Wahpeton and in the evenings on the Mayville State campus. On the campus of Williston State College, Mayville State offers opportunities in elementary education, early childhood, and online business administration. Students enrolled in the Dakota Nursing Program can take classes on the Mayville State University campus.

Mayville State’s athletic facilities have been extensively updated, and the largest residence hall on campus has been transformed to provide apartment- and suite-style living accommodations. The science and library buildings have been updated, and an addition to the library and science buildings recently became home to the Division of Education & Psychology. A drainage project is remedying campus-wide water issues, while providing a nice entrance to Mayville State’s athletic complexes. A Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (HPER) expansion project completed in March of 2016 is providing new classroom, laboratory, and office space for the HPER division.