For the 11th year in a row, Montana State University has set a new enrollment record, with 16,902 students attending this fall.
The Bozeman campus gained 199 students over last year’s enrollment of 16,703, an increase of 1.2 percent. That was slightly below the university’s prediction that it would gain 240 students.
Total headcount increased partly because the university is doing a better job of convincing freshmen students to stay in college and return for their sophomore year, rather than dropping out. The retention rate improved from 76.9 percent to 77.2 percent.