ECU enrollment is up for fall 2024

With two weeks of classes, a gridiron victory and the Labor Day holiday behind them, East Carolina University students are now in the full swing of the fall semester. While enrollment figures will not be official until after certification by the UNC System Office, ECU officials expect more than 4,020 new freshmen, more than 1,760 new transfer students, and more than 1,980 new graduate students to join the ranks of Pirate Nation. Total enrollment headcount for fall 2024 is 26,941.

“We are proud to welcome our Pirates back to Greenville and thrilled they chose ECU for a high quality, transformative learning environment,” said Chancellor Philip Rogers. “Not only are we experiencing positive momentum with our total enrollment, but our strategic focus on student success is producing results by achieving our highest retention rate in five years.”

Notable numbers for fall 2024:

• Campus housing is near capacity with about 5,500 students living on campus, the most students ECU has had in its residence halls since 2019.
• Numbers are up overall for both new first-year, first-time students and new graduate students. The 1,982 new graduate students are the most since 2020.
• Retention rates are also on the rise, with 82.7% of last year’s first-time, full-time students returning to ECU, indicating that more students are achieving success on their path to a degree.
• 7% increase in out-of-state undergraduate students.
• 24% increase in international students.
• ECU’s Honors College is growing and will serve roughly 260 students this year – more than ever before.

Despite delays related to processing FAFSA applications, ECU’s proactive and innovative efforts ultimately helped more students receive financial aid packages than the previous year. The university is also actively working to develop new transfer pathways and agreements with community colleges and to streamline the transfer process to better serve our transfer student population.

“Students and their families are seeing the value in a degree from East Carolina University, especially with more than 96% of our undergraduate programs and 92% of graduate programs demonstrating a positive return on the investment after graduation. As we continue efforts to meet learners where they are, we are proud to see growth in enrollment through an innovative partnership with Project Kitty Hawk, designed for online learners, and through our engagement with ReUp, which helps re-recruit and enroll students who have started college but did not complete their degrees,” Rogers said.

Enrollment through Project Kitty Hawk has exceeded expectations with a total of 313 students enrolled at ECU through the program this fall.

###

East Carolina University News Services
Howard House, 1001 E. Fifth Street
Greenville, NC 27858
ecunews@ecu.edu
Phone: 252-328-6481
https://news.ecu.edu