Student Influx Challenges Campus Culture at Texas State University

By Jacob Cox

The 2014-2015 school year kicked off with a resounding bang at Texas State with a record-breaking 36,790 students enrolling for classes on campus.

The confirmation of preliminary student enrollment totals on Oct. 23, 2014 serves as a benchmark in university history. Texas State overtook North Texas University last fall as the fourth-largest university in Texas, and is now behind only Texas A&M, the University of Texas, and the University of Houston in terms of student enrollment.

Amy Bender
Photo by Andrew Potter

The influx of students attending Texas State has ushered in a bit of a culture shock to the once-small town of San Marcos, Texas. According to a press release from University News Service correspondent, Jayme Blaschke, the fall semester of 2014 marks the most diverse student body in the school’s history.

Junior Texas State student, Amy Bender, said that higher enrollment numbers are encouraging to her because more students enrolling at Texas State brings more diversity to the university. Bender said that the rise in diversity impacts the faculty, student body and student organizations in a strong way because it cultivates more understanding of different cultures.

A major challenge that the college community faces is that more students enrolling at the university means that more students will be living in San Marcos. In addition to the rising cost of parking on campus, increasingly congested traffic and limited housing space in San Marcos, junior student Candace Jackson said that the amount of people living in San Marcos means resources at the school are limited.  

"You can't go (to the Student Recreation Center) at certain times because there will be no machines," Jackson said.

Josh Mitchell
Photo by Kiersten Ehr

While students on campus are excited and optimistic about the growth of the university, they appreciate the challenges that come with occupying the number four slot in state university size.

"Things have been more crowded," senior student government member Josh Mitchell said. “There is a lot more construction to compensate for this rapid increase of enrollment, but overall I think it’s good for the university and the future of Texas State.”

Caleb Davis, a 21-year-old Texas State student, is an advocate of the growing student population at Texas State. However, Davis said that parking spaces on and near campus are extremely limited for students. Furthermore, Davis said that the increasing influx of students at Texas State over the years just goes to show that the university’s infrastructure needs to grow in proportion to its students’ needs.

Joshua Hinojosa, a junior international relations student, said that the growing student population has impacted other aspects of college life besides issues with the campus' infrastructure, such as the clustering of the course registration process for students each semester.

Joshua Hinojosa
Photo by Victoria Marin

“(The university) can (accommodate growth) by adding more classes, hiring more professors, implementing a different way of registering besides the ‘first come first served’ way,” Hinojosa said. “As the enrollment grows, so can the staff.”

In a letter addressing the issue of limited space on campus, Texas State University President Trauth said, “Although our growth poses some space challenges, what's also telling is that Texas State has become a top destination among prospective college students.” 

Many Texas State students agree with President Trauth. Last fall was the 17^th consecutive year that Texas State has increased its student enrollment. 

“(The university's growth) made me more proud of my school. It shows we are a really good institution; more people want to come here each year," sophomore communication studies major Jenah Stephenson said.

Despite the record-breaking student enrollment trend over the years, Stephenson believes that Texas State will remain a modest, humble school because San Marcos isn’t big city, such as Austin.