Oregon State University-Cascades student enrollment increased this year and those students are taking more classes. The branch campus has a total of 1,370 students this fall, according to initial enrollment numbers announced Wednesday.

The university campus is aiming to grow to 2,200 students by fall 2030, with this increase looking like a step in the right direction. With the opening of the student success center in January, students will have an additional space to hang out, a necessity as more students come to campus.

The campus has 215 first-year students and 133 transfer students. Of the first-year students, 29% identify as students of color, which is a nearly 10% increase in diversity from last year.

“We are excited to have an increase in our degree-seeking students,” said Jane Reynolds, associate dean of enrollment management. “More students are going to class full-time at OSU-Cascades versus part-time.”

Reynolds was glad to see the increase in students of color this year, especially in first-year students who are joining straight from high school.

“That means we’re serving our increasingly diverse Central Oregon school districts, and across the state,” she said, adding that 40% of Oregon’s K-12 students are students of color. “There’s real opportunity to make sure that OSU-Cascades is attractive to students who are — many are probably first in their families to go to school, and I do see Oregon State at Cascades as a real opportunity to get an Oregon State experience, and kinda the academic rigor but in a much smaller environment.”

‘A wave of enthusiasm’

The campus has 237 students pursuing master’s degrees or a doctorates in physical therapy this year. This is a 30% increase in graduate students from last year, particularly in the teaching and school counseling programs.

“We got a federal grant to support school counselors in our rural schools here in Central Oregon and that has really helped with student interest,” said Reynolds.

Student government President Whitney McFarlane said she’s excited to see how new first-year and transfer students engage with OSU-Cascades.

“There’s a palpable sense of excitement on campus, especially after Welcome Week and Convocation. The anticipation around the Student Success Center, which is opening soon, has created a wave of enthusiasm,” she wrote in an email. “In my conversations with new students, I’ve also had the opportunity to introduce our plans for a Health and Recreation Center. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, with so much excitement for the continued growth and expansion of OSU-Cascades.”

The campus’ new programs have also brought in students. The new mechanical engineering degree has 17 students enrolled, and the biochemistry and molecular biology program, now in its second year, has 31 students. Reynolds expects more students to enter the mechanical engineering program as it continues.

Reynolds said she believes the academic support program Cascades Edge has also drawn students.

“I think it’s really attractive to see the kind of experiential learning that you can get through OSU-Cascades and the Cascades Edge program,” Reynolds said. “We definitely did a lot of programming for our freshman and sophomore students this past year, and I do think that is attractive. We’re working on how to incorporate those experiential learning experiences for all of our students.”

Over 75% of OSU-Cascades students are from Oregon. In addition, 47% of the campus’ 473 transfer students came from Central Oregon Community College.

The youngest student at OSU-Cascades is 16 and the oldest is 72. International students joined this year from Oman, Vietnam, China, France and Taiwan.

Reynolds is looking forward to the new student success center. She’s also thinking forward to the next legislative session, where university leadership will advocate for funding for a health and recreation center, which she said is a missing piece on campus.

Enrollment at Oregon State University has a 28-year record of growth statewide. The 3.5% increase this year was largely driven by the university’s e-campus classes. Overall, the university has nearly 38,000 students this fall.

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