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March 17, 2025
Dear William Paterson Faculty and Staff,
With students on Spring Break this week, it’s a good time for all of us to catch our breath, reset, and prepare for their return next week and the sprint to the end of the semester.
As of Friday, overall Spring 2025 student enrollment has increased by 6.77% compared to last year (Main Campus up 2.02%, and WP Online up 13.63%). New student enrollment is up 9.92%, First-time/Full-time (FTFT) is up 34.48% and Transfer is up 6.19%. New graduate student enrollment has grown by 3%, and continuing student enrollment is up 6.35% year-over-year. The WP Online Second Session drop occurs March 20. Enrollment efforts will continue through the start of the semester and Census II on April 1.
Looking ahead to Fall 2025, FTFT domestic student applications are up 4.34% compared to this time last year (8,263), and acceptances have increased by 5.6%. International student metrics are also showing positive trends, with 1,884 international FTFT applications. While international enrollment indicators remain strong, we are mindful of the potential impact that recently announced EducationUSA furloughs, travel restrictions, and visa processing delays may have on our ability to convert these applicants into enrolled students for Fall 2025. EducationUSA is the U.S. Department of State’s global network of international student advising centers. Overall, new domestic student applications for Fall 2025 have increased by 5.45%, with acceptances up 5.36%. Registrations for “Will. Power. Day”, aka Accepted Students Day, on April 5 are up more than 10%.
Last week, the Governor’s budget detail was released. Unfortunately, higher education, as a sector, did not fare well, and Willam Paterson was not spared. Along with some of our sister institutions, we were zeroed out by the Governor. We lost our $7.5 million legislative appropriation, as well as our $1 million for nursing workforce development, and $4.5 million in Outcomes-Based Allocations, which had gone to cover our collective bargaining increases – all of which are important to our current year operations. These cuts came despite a proposed $58 billion budget. We will now turn our attention to the legislature and our representatives there with the aim of restoring as much of this funding as possible.
A reminder to please fill out the Great Colleges to Work for survey, which was sent to all faculty and staff from Modern Think, an independent research and consulting firm. The results, which will be published in an insert in the Chronicle of Higher Education, will inform our recruitment and retention efforts and can help raise William Paterson’s profile among prospective employees. The deadline to submit the survey is midnight on Wednesday, March 28.
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