BROWNWOOD – September 4, 2013 – Howard Payne University announced today that the largest number of new students in more than three decades enrolled at the university for the fall 2013 semester. HPU welcomed 340 first-year students and 50 transfer students to the university. Total enrollment for the semester is 1,170 which includes undergraduate and graduate students from HPU’s Brownwood, El Paso and New Braunfels campuses.
“We’ve anxiously awaited the totals so that we could officially share the good news,” said Kevin Kirk, associate vice president for enrollment management. “This is the largest number of incoming freshmen the university has seen since the 1970s, and they are joining a great group of returning students.”
Kirk compared seeing the new students on campus to the excitement a child feels on Christmas morning.
“The HPU faculty and staff all worked so hard to bring in this incredible class of great students and we are so thankful that God chose to bless those many efforts,” he said.
Dr. Bill Ellis, HPU president, says the enrollment figures are encouraging but he sees value beyond the numbers.
“There is so much potential in each and every one of these students,” he said. “We are extremely blessed to welcome so many into the HPU family and I pray that the university, in turn, is a blessing to them.”
TaShana Hooker, a music education major from Carrollton, is a member of the freshman class.
“I’ve already met so many wonderful people, and the professors are so kind and understanding,” she said. “Most importantly, I’m able to expand my faith here without worrying about feeling uncomfortable about it. I love HPU so much, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of this semester and school year holds.”
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Photo cutline: HPU enrolled the largest number of new Yellow Jackets since the 1970s for the fall 2013 semester. New students are pictured doing the “Sting ’em” cheer during Jacket Journey, HPU’s new-student orientation week, with upperclassmen group leaders and student life staff.