Students Find Hardships, Blessings in Rising Enrollment

By Kimberly Witthaus

Texas State University has grown in numbers this fall. Student enrollment has increased by 3.5 percent resulting in over 36,700 bobcats.

According to “From the Hill,” an update by Texas State President Denise M. Trauth, Texas State has become the fourth largest school in Texas, behind Texas A&M University, The University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Houston, and that the growth poses some space challenges but Texas State has become a top destination among prospective college students.

Junior Elisa Alvarado Photo provided by Elisa Alvarado

The university has begun taking the necessary steps to becoming a larger university in order to accommodate the rising number of students, such as increasing tuition, parking prices and housing. But like with all things that grow, growing pains are a reality. The students at Texas State are experiencing these pains first hand.

Junior Elisa Alvarado, noted the change in the tuition.

“Being a new transfer student, the increase in enrollment has yet to affect me,” Alvarado said. “However based on the tuition that was asked in 2008, when I graduated high school, it has significantly risen. I correlate this difference with the student population.”

Junior Joshua Hinojosa Photo by Victoria Marin

Construction and parking are also among student’s hopes for university to-dos.

“Don’t even get me started,” student Darby Walker said. “I hate everything about the parking. There just isn’t enough of it! They keep building new dorms and no parking garages! Hell I think they are building one on top of the old lot by the rec. That just makes no sense to me. Where do they expect everyone to park!?”

Junior Joshua Hinojosa said that he is concerned that the enormous amount of construction on campus may be necessary but could turn people away from enrolling at Texas State.

“If you have a prospective student visiting here and he sees all this construction on LBJ or the huge mess by Commons, I’m sure he’d see it as a problem,” Hinojosa said. “If it were me and I had seen all that before enrolling, I’d be turned off by that and not want to be at a university that is “incomplete.”

Despite all the construction and changes, some students have found a bright side. Senior Josh Mitchell said he believes the university should grow in order to stay competitive.

"We have one of the best geography programs in the state, one of the best business programs in the

Sophomore Jenah Stephenson Photo by Kiersten Ehr

state, we have a lot of good programs here at Texas State, and we have a really good theater department at Texas State," Mitchell said. "If we continue to grow we continue to improve on those programs."

Sophomore Jenah Stephenson said that the growth had made her more proud of Texas State.

"It shows we are a really good institution, more people want to come here each year," Stephenson said. "I think San Marcos will keep it humble instead of being like UT because it is a big city. I like the fact that the school was a small school, and I love watching it expand."