RADFORD, Va. – Over the past year, leaders at Radford University have made it their mission to get enrollment up, and with recent reports, it looks like they are headed in the right direction.
“The best signals for enrollment in the fall right now are deposits and so for freshman and transfer students deposits are up 35%,” said David Perryman, associate vice president for strategic communication at Radford University.
Radford University over the past few years has seen a decrease in enrollment, but now, after adding programs like their tuition promise, they are starting to see potential students look their way.
“What the early enrollment numbers show us is that Radford has a broad appeal, to not only to traditional students but also non-traditional students,” Perryman said.
Along with their Tuition Promise of paid tuition for students with households making less than $100,000 a year, they are also the lowest-cost public university in the region.
Followed by Virginia Tech at around $12,000, then it’s VCU, JMU, and Longwood University and finally VMI and UVA as some of the highest.
I went around Radford’s campus Tuesday to talk to students, and they all told me they love it.
“It’s a very beautiful campus,” said Aaron Gardner, a doctorate student. “I love the culture here as well, there is so many different people.”
They tell me the students here have a great community, so to see more Highlanders would be fantastic.
“Hands down this campus has been very good to me,” Gardner said. “I have been able to see faculty work really hard; it’s been a reason I would like to stay here for a very long time.”
Officials with the university said their goal is to make higher education accessible to anyone.
They said the tuition promise has been extended for another year, so students coming in for the 2025 to 2026 school year will be eligible for the program.