By Marley Rokas, Skyline Reporter

Alpine – The start of the Fall 2022 semester on Sul Ross State University’s Alpine campus brought a much-welcomed surprise. Students, their parents, and staff were greeted with the delightful sound of a full campus, which has not been a reality at Sul Ross for the past few years.

“At the New Student Convocation on Sunday we had 250 first-year students. This is the largest class we have had in the past three years,” Provost Bernie Cantens wrote in an email to staff.

Due to many factors, including Covid 19, Sul Ross has seen a steady drop in enrollment during the past few years. Overall, Sul Ross is a small school that is very distant from some big city conveniences to which many are accustomed. This can pose a challenge in recruiting new students. The previous administration, led by President Pete Gallego, managed to win the hearts of over 367 incoming freshmen, a 15% increase compared to the previous 2021 Fall semester.

In this new year, Dr. Carlos Hernandez, the new president of Sul Ross State University, will face the challenge of maintaining a high incoming freshman enrollment rate as well as keeping returning students engaged in the University. Diving deep into the Sul Ross 2022 enrollment numbers showed a dramatic decrease in sophomore reenrollment by negative fifteen percent in relation to the total number of sophomores last year’s numbers.

Overall, Sul Ross’s enrollment in Alpine is trending upward along with its counterpart Sul Ross State University Rio Grande College in Del Rio, Texas.