Colleges and universities across the state are seeing their enrollment numbers increase year over year, and in Orem, Utah Valley University is breaking its own record from the previous year.

According to an annual enrollment report released Tuesday by the Utah System of Higher Education, UVU’s student population jumped nearly 5% from 2023.

This year, 46,809 students are enrolled at UVU for the fall 2024 semester — the largest in the state of all public colleges and universities, according to the latest numbers from USHE.

Just under 45,000 students were enrolled at UVU at this time last year.

According to the university, full-time enrollment also rose to 30,598, a more than 5.5% increase from 2023.

UVU also noted a rise in the population of students who are the first in their family to attend college, as first-generation student enrollment rose 18% from the previous year, making up 41% of the overall student body, according to a press release.

Carmen Guevara Hernandez, a first-generation freshman, said is glad she chose to attend UVU, pointing out the university’s student success center and its work empowering students like her.

“(UVU’s) personal financial planning program is one of the best. All the professors are great and patient; they are always willing to help. I really appreciate the welcoming environment at UVU,” she said in a statement.

Dianet Linares, another first-generation college student who took a chance on higher education at UVU, is finding her purpose through student resources at the school, she explained in an interview with the school’s Wolverine stories video series.

Linares says she wants to set an example for her younger siblings and others on the fence about going to college.

“I’m, like, trying to build that bridge for them,” she said.

UVU also touts diversity among its student population. The university noted the following statistics for the current semesters enrollment:

• More than 6,000 students identify as Hispanic/Latino, a nearly 8% increase from 2023.
• The Asian student population grew 5.62% for the current semester, while Black/African American enrollment increased by 6.41%.
• UVU saw an almost 14% increase in Native American/Alaskan students for fall 2024.
• Over 19,000 of those enrolled are first-generation students, making up almost half of the student body.

“Students continue to choose UVU and have found that it is a place for them to thrive,” President Astrid S. Tuminez said. “Our enrollment has now grown by 17.25% since I first started in 2018. With 77% of our alumni still in Utah 10 years after graduation, investing in UVU students is an investment in Utah’s future.”

UVU also noted enrollment growth in students majoring in fields that are in demand across Utah’s job market, including nursing, finance, construction and STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and math.

The educational institution had already reached a milestone earlier this year ahead of a graduation goal the university set out to hit by increasing students’ degree-completion rate from 37% to 45% by 2025.

In May, the rate hit 46% when 10,197 graduates received 12,499 degrees.

While UVU celebrates its increasing student population, according to the USHE report, Weber State University saw the biggest increase in enrollment, jumping 7% from 2023.

WSU’s enrollment total sits at 32,701 students.

“We are encouraged by the increase in enrollment across Utah’s public degree-granting colleges and universities, especially as recent reports indicate a decline in the college-going population in the near future,” said Geoffrey Landward, Utah’s commissioner of higher education, in the USHE release.

He added that their mission is not only to increase enrollment numbers but to ensure students have the tools they need to successfully complete college with degrees in their desired field and thrive in a competitive economy.