Enrollment Patterns and Growth
Recent Changes in Graduate School Enrollment
Chris Rios, Associate Dean
In recent years, the Graduate School has been active in two strategic growth plans. The first resulted in the creation and expansion of Baylor’s online and hybrid programs. Guided by Vice Provost Gary Carini and the office of Professional Education, these programs have surged from just over 500 students in 2016 to more than 2500 today. Three of these are Carnegie classified research doctoral programs: the EdD in Learning and Organizational Change and the two hybrid PhD programs in Social Work and Preaching. Other departments offer professional doctorates in critical fields like Nursing, Physical Therapy, and Occupational Therapy. Today these programs are Baylor’s largest and have helped us serve a new category of students, diversify our student body, and broaden our educational reach.
Nurse Practitioner (DNP) | 609 |
Learning & Organizational Change (EdD) | 490 |
Business Administration (OMBA) | 346 |
Communication Sciences & Disorders (MS) | 318 |
Physical Therapy (DPT) | 250 |
Public Health (MPH) | 194 |
Occupational Therapy (OTD) | 174 |
The second strategic plan emerged in 2019 when we developed our five-year growth plan for on-campus PhD students. The goal was to help grow and stabilize enrollment in departments (mostly in the STEM fields) mentor, and graduate additional students in areas with ample employment opportunities. In the plan’s first three years (2020-2022), residential PhD enrollment grew from 748 to 875. When added to other on-campus research doctorates (DMA, EdD, PsyD), those numbers increased from 789 to 920.
2020 | 2022 | Increase | |
---|---|---|---|
On-Campus Research Doctorates | 789 | 920 | 17% |
PhD Students | 748 | 875 | 17% |
Female Students | 310 | 393 | 28% |
Underrepresented Minority Students | 87 | 112 | 29% |
International Students | 168 | 241 | 43% |
During this time, these programs have become more gender and racially diverse. One surprising and encouraging part of this growth has been international enrollment. Baylor has had no shortage of international applications in previous years, but relatively few of those have had the credentials to be admitted. Between 2015 and 2019, enrollment varied little. In the years since, total international enrollment has grown to 326, an increase of 43%. This recent increase may offer a strong signal of Baylor’s growing reputation as a serious research university.
Today, the Graduate School enrolls 4401 students—our largest and most diverse student body. Adding Baylor’s Law School, Seminary, and School of Social Work (areas not overseen by the Graduate School), total post-graduate enrollment nears 5500 students—more than 25% of Baylor’s total enrollment.
Enrollment | 4401 | 100% |
---|---|---|
Female | 2967 | 67% |
URMs | 1253 | 28% |
International | 338 | 8% |
Non-Texas Students | 1552 | 35% |
2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | |
---|---|---|---|
Army-Baylor | 261 | 121 | 303 |
Law | 467 | 503 | 450 |
On-Campus Master's Programs | 710 | 688 | 637 |
On-Campus Research Doctorate | 789 | 843 | 920 |
Online & Hybrid Programs | 2025 | 2544 | 2541 |
Seminary | 336 | 357 | 346 |
Social Work | 310 | 379 | 299 |
Grand Total | 4898 | 5435 | 5496 |
The Foreseeable Future
The unprecedented enrollment growth over the past five years is unlikely to continue for both natural and strategic reasons.
- Our largest online programs have reached full capacity. Some may see declining demand in the coming years, offsetting moderate increases in other areas. And attention is turning towards how we can support these programs with minimal third-party involvement rather than relying on OPMs (Online Program Managers).
- As part of the PhD growth plan, we are gradually but significantly reducing funding for on-campus masters’ students. Thus, the decline in MA/MS programs seen in the table above is expected and intended.
- In response to challenges such as the academic job market, most humanities and social science programs have neither the desire nor capacity to grow.
- Fall 2024 will mark the end of the Graduate School’s PhD growth plan. By then, the Graduate School will be allocating internal stipend dollars sufficient to support 639 students. Thus, while we expect to see continued increases in some areas, particularly in our newest PhD programs (Anthropology, Communication and Sciences Disorders, and Public Health) and in select upcoming areas (such as Materials Sciences), PhD enrollment should begin to level off, with external funding increasingly relied upon to support both existing and additional student lines.
As such, the table below looks ahead five years and reflects the following expectations and strategies:
- A desire to limit the number of internally funded PhD students by 2024 and incentivize departments to support future growth with grants.
- A desire to prioritize increasing the quality rather than quantity of our graduate students, which should help our retention, graduation, and placement rates rise to normative R1 levels.
- Relatively moderate growth within online and hybrid programs.
Graduate School Programs | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Army-Baylor | 303 | 230 | 230 | 230 | 230 |
On-Campus Master's Programs | 637 | 624 | 612 | 600 | 588 |
On-Campus Research Doctorate | 920 | 957 | 981 | 990 | 1000 |
Online & Hybrid Programs | 2541 | 2668 | 2801 | 2942 | 3089 |
Grand Total | 4401 | 4479 | 4624 | 4762 | 4907 |