News Release

Contacts: Jack R. Warner, Executive Director and CEO

jack.warner@sdbor.edu

Janelle Toman, Director of Information & Institutional Research

Janelle.toman@sdbor.edu

Telephone: (605) 773-3455

Fax: (605) 773-5320

www.sdbor.edu

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE:  10:30 a.m. (CDT), Thursday, October 1, 2009

South Dakota Public University System Posts Record Enrollment

PIERRE, S.D. – For the 12^th straight year, South Dakota’s public university system is reporting record-high enrollments. Total student enrollment this fall is up more than 2.5% to 33,779, the South Dakota Board of Regents announced Thursday.

“Our challenge is clear,” said Jack R. Warner, the regents’ executive director and CEO. “We must educate more South Dakotans and graduate more of them with college degrees. Simply put, this is a workforce and economic development issue, and these numbers demonstrate we are moving in the right direction.”

“As the level of education increases, so do wages. That’s why higher education is so vital to South Dakota’s future,” said Regents President Terry Baloun. “In the decade ahead, the state labor department tells us that occupations requiring some type of postsecondary education in South Dakota will grow by nearly 16 percent, generating more than 68,000 job opportunities.”

Total headcount at the six public universities for the Fall 2009 term is 33,779, an increase of 836 students, or 2.54 percent, over a year ago. The number of full-time equivalent students—based on total credit hours generated by all students within the system—increased by nearly 542 students, or 2.17 percent.

South Dakota Public University System: Fall 2009 Enrollments