Florida International University applications near pre-covid level

Florida International University is seeing application numbers for first-year students start to return to pre-pandemic levels, with some fluctuations in transfer students.

The number of undergraduates enrolled last fall was 46,280 and this spring, the semester that ends in April, was 44,217, according to information from a university spokesperson.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen with the economy in the next six months. Normally, if there is a decline people return to school, However, we’re not sure if they will post-pandemic,” said a spokesperson in a statement.

FIU is projecting an incoming first-year class of 4,350 students matriculated between summer and the fall of 2022, and a transfer class of 5,015.

“When added to the spring term, we typically welcome just over 10,000 new undergraduate students per year and over 5,000 graduate and professional school students,” said the spokesperson.

The overall number of students enrolled and matriculated, which includes graduate and post-graduate levels, during the current spring semester is 56,596. “The goal is to return to pre-pandemic enrollment of approximately 58,000 to 58,700 students,” said the spokesperson.

FIU, which has consistently had a large transfer population year after year, saw international students having trouble traveling in and out of the country, facing back-ups at embassies that caused them problems.

The university saw some fluctuations in enrollment during the pandemic, according to the spokesperson. “[We saw] more graduate students, inconsistent entering first-year students, and fewer transfer students, as there are fewer transfer students as a whole in the US. Community colleges [are suffering] because they are facing challenges with enrollment.”

The College of Arts, Sciences and Education is the largest college within FIU, with just over 15,000 students enrolled in bachelor degree programs and 16,700 student overall. Psychology is the largest and most popular FIU major, followed by biology and business.