About 15 percent more students enrolled in the College of Engineering this fall, and total undergraduate enrollment at the University is up by about 2 percent from 2013, according to the Office of Budget and Planning. 
Three weeks ago, the University welcomed 5,655 freshmen to campus. This year’s freshman class is one of the largest since 1988, and it is about 3 percent larger than last year’s.
This year’s undergraduate enrollment totals 25,577, which is about 600 more students than 2013. 
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Stuart Bell said the increase in enrollment is because of a growth in the number of transfer students and higher rates of student retention.  
There also was an increase in transfer students, Bell said, because of the nearly 170 students who were a part of the University’s Tiger Bridge program last fall. 
Tiger Bridge allows Baton Rouge Community College students to live on the University’s campus while taking courses at BRCC and then transfer to the University after one year. 
Bell said part of the increase in retention is because the students entering the University have higher test scores coming in and already are good students.
Enrollment has jumped by 10 percent in the School of the Coast and Environment. Last fall, the college saw a 27 percent increase and currently has 69 students. 
Enrollment has dropped by as much as 9 percent in the College of Music and Dramatic Arts and about 4 percent in the Manship School of Mass Communication. 
Vice President for Finance and Administration Dan Layzell said at the September Board of Supervisors meeting that enrollment is critical to the University’s success because of its greater dependence on tuition to continue running. 
At the same meeting, LSU President F. King Alexander said enrollment has increased across the LSU System. 
Total enrollment statewide has increased by about 2 percent as well, up to 44,246 students. LSU Alexandria has seen a jump in enrollment of 21 percent, the largest year-to-year growth since 1987, according to a news release.  
The University’s enrollment numbers become official on the 14th day of classes every semester. This semester’s data was
taken on Sept. 12, according the the Office of Budget and Planning. 
Bell said enrollment tends to decrease during the spring
because of December graduation, and fills up again in the fall. Students also take more hours in the fall semester than spring.