Spring 2023 enrollment at Western Carolina University is down 3.6% compared to the spring semester last year, according to a headcount taken on the 10th day of classes this semester.

For the second year straight , enrollment is down at Western Carolina University — but an uptick in freshman class size has university officials hoping that trend will soon reverse.

While nothing is certain until census day in September, transfer and full-time freshman enrollment for the upcoming fall semester at Western Carolina University appears strong and on par with pre-pandemic levels, Chancellor Kelli R. Brown told the WCU Board of Trustees June 10. 

A master plan envisioning campus needs for the decade ahead received unanimous approval from the Western Carolina University Board of Trustees during its March 4 meeting, setting the stage for a long-term effort to reshuffle campus programs into a more logical and efficient configuration.

A requested athletic fee increase at Western Carolina University met approval from the University of North Carolina Board of Governors at its Feb. 24 meeting, but this month WCU trustees passed a resolution pledging that increase would stick around only as long as the debt for the projects it seeks to support.

Enrollment at Western Carolina University is the lowest it’s been for any spring semester since 2018, according to student census data collected Jan. 24. The school cites the ongoing pandemic and its impact on student finances as drivers of the 2.7% decrease in enrollment between the 2022 and 2021 spring semesters.

Western Carolina University leaders are celebrating passage of a state budget bill that funds every item on the university’s legislative agenda, including raises for faculty and staff and $35.5 million to renovate Moore Building, the oldest building on WCU’s campus. 

If the proposed master plan is adopted, over the coming years the university will focus its development efforts on five districts described in the document. 

At a board retreat this month, Western Carolina University trustees got their first look at a draft proposed 10-year master plan update that calls for a reimagined library, beefed-up athletic facilities, and overall improvements to campus organization and aesthetics. 

On an unusually warm fall afternoon in the mountains, art class is taking place in the outdoor pavilion at Full Spectrum Farms in Cullowhee. Participants are using recycled magazines and newspapers, paint and markers to create mixed-media collages.