_{Photo Credit: Oldwestbury.edu} 

After nearly 4 years of feeling the effects of COVID-19, SUNY Old Westbury has seen an increase in enrollment. “We saw a really large number of returning students who dropped out during COVID,” said Bryan Terry, vice president of enrollment management and marketing. “But now that we’ve come back, we saw a really large number of returning students that dropped out for a while, now decided to come back.” The enrollment number has hit 4,538 students this fall semester, while the fall 2022 semester had 4,252 enrolled students.

The reason for a rise in enrolled students could be due to the fear of COVID-19 being less present, or it could be that the SUNY Old Westbury is now recognized as a university rather than a college. Another factor could be that the University’s School of Business is now AACSB-accredited. The AACSB team at the school has done a great job of working hard trying to get the accreditation title. “Oh yeah, students want to go someplace that’s accredited and this marks out how excellent our team is,” Terry said, in hopes the accreditation would bring in more students. Of the 4,538 students enrolled, 4,126 are undergraduate students while 412 are graduate students.

The incoming class is breaking barriers. 55% of the class is female, and of those females, the majority are Hispanic, with 258 being female Hispanic students. The rest of the incoming female class body includes 148 Black females, 147 White females, 94 Asian females, 8 American Indian females, and 56 others. Hispanic males are also highly present at SUNY Old Westbury. Of the incoming male students, 180 are Hispanic, 122 are Black, 101 are White, 70 are Asian, 9 are American Indian, and 55 others. Overall, the freshman demographic consists of 38% Hispanic, 27% Black, 16% White, 15% Asian, 1% American Indian, and 3% other. Even in the transfer numbers, Hispanic students are at the top, being 32% of fall semester transfers for 2023. The rest of the transfer student body is 31% White, 19% Black, 12% Asian, 1% American Indian, and 5% other. This is a big milestone!