Fall 2026 Enrollment and the Work Ahead
Dear campus community,
This week, we reported our fall enrollment to the Louisiana Board of Regents and the University of Louisiana System. Before we release the figures publicly, I want to share them first with you.
The annual census shows our overall enrollment is 15,702 students, down 2.5% from last year. The total includes the University鈥檚 withdrawal of nearly 300 students who did not meet academic progress requirements or who had not paid required fees.
We made strategic decisions knowing it would reduce overall enrollment. We must establish practices that position our students to succeed academically while strengthening the University鈥檚 ability to support their success, maintain financial viability and provide an accurate census baseline for what comes next.
The enrollment report also provides good news. We welcomed nearly 3,000 first-time freshmen. Enrollment grew in the colleges of Engineering and Liberal Arts. More than 650 new transfer students joined us for the second consecutive year, and approximately 3,500 students are living on campus this fall. These areas of progress reflect the strength of our academic programs and the work happening across the University to recruit, teach, support and engage our students.
Our challenge now is to build on what is working while strengthening the areas that need our attention. We must recruit more students, but student success is more than recruitment. Strong academic advising, meaningful engagement, early intervention and steady progress toward career readiness and graduation can all make the difference in student persistence and success.
Every interaction with a student is an opportunity for each of us to connect them with the help they need and keep them moving toward a degree. That is fundamental to our responsibility to students and the long-term strength of this University.
We know where momentum is building, but we also know we have more work to do. I鈥檝e said it before and it bears repeating: that work belongs to all of us. I am grateful for your commitment to our students and confident that, together, we can strengthen enrollment, retention and graduation as we pursue the goals of Louisiana Vision 2035.
You can read the full University announcement here.
Thank you for all you do.
Sincerely,
Dr. Ramesh Kolluru