After combating the post-pandemic effects for several years, UNLV enrollment has reached a record number for the Fall 2024 semester. The university is now home to over 32,000 students.
UNLV is seemingly growing stronger than ever. In the Spring 2024 semester, UNLV announced that they were pleased to welcome the largest spring class, with 29,360 students enrolled.
The residence halls have also reported the highest number of students residing on campus, even before the pandemic. There are currently over 1,700 Rebels being housed on campus this year, with an additional hundreds of students that moved into the U-District student housing.
Recovering from the detrimental impact of the worldwide pandemic on college enrollment rates was not an easy task. The pandemic caused enrollment rates to face one of the largest declines in history. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, public four-year institutions suffered an 8.1% decrease in enrollment due to the pandemic.
UNLV turned to online and hybrid courses to ease students and staff back into normal campus life. Setting a new record for enrollment less than four years post-pandemic shows the determination UNLV has for growing higher education in Nevada.
The expansion of different areas around campus in these past few years reveal that UNLV was hoping to reach **record enrollment numbers like we are today.
In 2022, UNLV doubled the size of the Tropicana Parking Garage to have over 2,000 spaces available for staff and students.
In addition to the parking project, UNLV just finished construction last semester on the Advanced Engineering Building (AEB). The AEB project signifies a goal for an increase in enrollment as well as a goal for an increase in degrees granted.
However, with the campus appearing to become busier each semester, students are running into more complications at UNLV.
Savina Escoto, a second-year student at UNLV, has experienced some issues with the recent increase in students on campus. During the first week of the semester, she was unable to find parking, and she had to stand in her lecture since there were no seats left.
She believed that “they will have to make adjustments, as it is already hard to get into certain classes … and the parking situation already struggles to accommodate all students enrolled.”
Other students also had a similar first week experience in which they struggled to find parking or seats in classes, which is normally an easy task at our medium size campus.
After speaking with Cidney Pahang, a junior at UNLV, there appears to be a common theme with the parking.
She stated, “I have noticed the increase in students on campus and the lack of expansion in parking spaces.”
UNLV is growing so rapidly that the infrastructure hasn’t had the chance to catch up yet.
Cidney also added, “I hope that UNLV expands the Student Union and parking options.”
These requests seem to be a common theme among UNLV students recently, and with such exponential growth, it may soon become a necessity.
Despite the immediate consequences of the sudden influx of students at UNLV, there are many positive aspects for the future of UNLV.
In her interview, Savina added, “I think it’s a great thing for not only the future of UNLV but Las Vegas as a whole, and hopefully it will continue to grow in a positive way that supports the success of every student.”
Cidney had similar remarks, hoping for “more classes and professors.”
The lack of parking or seats in a classroom is a temporary inconvenience, but the growth of students at UNLV will hopefully lead to a flourishing future for different areas of our campus and our community as a whole.
