Student enrollment at UNMC set another record high for the 17th straight year with 3,908 students enrolled for the 2017-18 school year, an increase of 46 students, or 1.2 percent, over last year’s record of 3,862.
“We are delighted to see our student body size increase for a record 17th year,” said Dele Davies, M.D., UNMC senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean for graduate studies. “As in prior years, much of this year’s growth was fueled by the ongoing demand for highly skilled health care providers in rural and urban Nebraska and the nation, coupled with our ongoing commitment to providing the highest quality training environment, faculty and staff to help meet this need. We were particularly pleased to see a growing interest in our allied health, doctor of nursing practice and graduate studies programs.”
University of Nebraska enrollment also reaches record high.
Below are enrollment highlights.
College of Allied Health Professions
A total of 596 students are enrolled in the college, including online students. The college has increased its enrollment at the Health Science Education Complex in Kearney from 50 last year to 80 this year — an increase of more than 60 percent. Overall enrollment increased by nearly 2 percent. The college has students in 12 different health profession education programs.
College of Dentistry
The College of Dentistry admitted 51 new dental students and 24 new dental hygiene students. The total student enrollment is 278, including 37 post-graduate students. Hometown demographics of the incoming dental class is 25 rural and 26 urban students. For dental hygiene, it’s 21 rural and three urban students. There were 708 applications for the 51 slots in this year’s dental class.
College of Medicine
There are 132 new students entering their first year of medical school, bringing the total enrollment to 514, which includes 37 students in the M.D./Ph.D. Scholars Program. The new students in the college, 80 percent of whom are Nebraska residents, were selected from a total of 1,708 applicants.
College of Nursing
A total of 1,073 students are enrolled through the college’s five campuses in Omaha, Lincoln, Kearney, Norfolk and Scottsbluff. The biggest growth in enrollment came in the doctor of nursing practice program going from 114 students to 136 (19 percent). Additionally, students are moving more quickly through the registered nurse to bachelor’s degree in nursing program, as there are now three admission dates each year.
College of Pharmacy
Fifty-seven new students with an average GPA of 3.53 were accepted into the College of Pharmacy’s doctor of pharmacy degree program. Seventy-seven percent of the new students are Nebraska residents with 55 percent coming from rural areas. The new students bring the total enrollment in the four-year program to 239 students.
College of Public Health
Enrollment in the college is 184 for its professional programs, which includes 153 master degree students and 31 certificate/non-degree students. Of the 58 incoming students, 70 percent are residents of Nebraska and 24 percent represent populations underrepresented in the health professions.
Graduate Studies
Enrollment for Graduate Studies is 475 students, representing a 7 percent increase over last fall. There are 127 students news students. More than 80 percent of UNMC graduate students are enrolled in Ph.D. programs. Graduate Studies offers advanced instruction leading to a master in science and Ph.D. degrees in health-related areas.
Munroe-Meyer Institute
Munroe-Meyer Institute provided interdisciplinary training, course work, and practicum experiences to 130 students. Trainees included 32 undergraduate students, 27 master’s level students, 49 doctoral level students/interns, 17 post-doctoral fellows, and training for five other trainees, which include family members who serve as parent advocates to affect systems change such as working with the legislature and serving on community boards.
Some students are in dual programs. There are 558 resident physicians training at UNMC for this academic year.