SEMO SPRING ENROLLMENT DOWN

Southeast Missouri State University has 79 fewer students enrolled in spring semester classes this year than it did on the first day of classes a year ago.

Total headcount at Southeast stood at 7,526 on Tuesday, the first day of classes for the spring semester.

The final headcount is expected to increase by several hundred before the official census is taken in the fourth week of the semester, school officials said.

Southeast's undergraduate enrollment currently stands at 6,614 compared with 6,683 a year ago. The university has 912 graduate students, down from 922 a year earlier.

School officials said the undergraduate headcount includes 1,593 returning freshmen, up 12 percent from last spring. That figure reflects the large number of freshmen who enrolled at the school last fall, officials said.

Final enrollment figures will be reported in mid-February, school officials said.