Aboriginal and international students help boost enrolment at U of S

While overall enrolment remains steady at the University of Saskatchewan, the campus is slowly becoming a more diverse place.
 
As of the first day of classes, the number of aboriginal students enrolled in classes was sitting at 2,072. The 8.3 per cent increase over the previous year also marked the fourth consecutive increase for that demographic.
 
Patti McDougall, U of S vice-provost of teaching and learning, said she expects the number of self-declared aboriginal students to increase as the year goes on, with another information campaign set to begin later this month.
 
“To help support and better understand the needs of aboriginal students, each term we invite aboriginal students, who haven’t already, to self-declare their aboriginal ancestry,” McDougall said in a release.
 
She said having students declare their ancestry is key to maintaining and developing effective programs and services that support aboriginal students.
 
The number of international graduate and undergraduate students also rose this year with 2,238 enrolled.
 
McDougall said attracting and retaining international students is a priority for the university pointing to the International Student and Study Abroad Centre, which helps students new to Canada adjust to the city and university.

Overall, enrolment on campus is up slightly over last year sitting at 19,754, but is on par with the five year average.
 
The College of Agriculture and and Bioresources saw the biggest spike so far this year with enrolment increasing 11.5 per cent.