“In the past four years, Frostburg State University has clearly defined itself as a premier comprehensive, public institution,” said FSU President Jonathan Gibralter. “Our research shows that FSU is increasingly the first-choice destination for students where they know they will get the highest quality of education.”

The strongest area of growth comes in the 3,299 students who chose to return to Frostburg from the previous semester, 4 percent more than the previous year, which was already a two-decade high point. Nearly 74 percent of students who were first-time, full-time freshman in the fall of 2009 returned to FSU for the fall 2010 semester, a 2 percent larger share than the previous year. Gibralter has set a goal for the University of eventually having nearly 80 percent of freshmen return to FSU the following year.

The fall 2010 freshman class brings with it a higher mean grade point average and SAT score. “It is very gratifying to see the increased academic quality of our incoming freshman class,” said Wray Blair, associate vice president for Enrollment Management.

“Many outstanding students are making Frostburg their first-choice institution for their college experience.”

More and more students are reporting that they have chosen to come to FSU over any number of schools with bigger “names,” in and out of the state of Maryland, Blair said.

More students are choosing to live on campus as well. The University’s 11 residence halls are filled to capacity; some lounges have been converted to rooms to accommodate more students. Edgewood Commons, the public/private apartment complex on the FSU campus that opened in 2003, has only a single vacancy and is at its highest occupancy ever. In all, 2,055 students are living on campus, the most in Frostburg State’s history.

With the improvement in enrollment, retention and academic quality, the future bodes well for the health of the institution, Gibralter said.

“As our enrollment has grown, we have also improved our retention, and, as we continue to develop our academic and residential infrastructure, FSU will become known as an enrollment growth institution for the state of Maryland,” Gibralter said.

FSU is continuing a broad base of initiatives to ensure the success of its students and assist them in completing their education at Frostburg. These include FSU Connections, learning communities that allow freshmen to explore an area of interest with a small group of fellow students; the Center for Advising and Career Services, providing essential support for transfer students and those who have not decided on a major; a wide array of academic support services and monitoring programs, including tutoring, math and writing instruction, study groups and career development; assistance with the financial aid process; and a new tool called MAP-Works, which helps students and their faculty instructors identify particular areas, whether academic, financial or personal, that might derail an otherwise strong student. All of these measures are designed to keep a single area of weakness from sinking a student’s entire college career.

For more information, call the Office of Admissions at 301-687-4201 or visit www.frostburg.edu or facebook.com/frostburgstateuniversity.