Enrollment Rates Continue to Climb in COEHP

Enrollment Rates Continue to Climb in COEHP

Despite recent slower enrollment rates, the numbers in COEHP have remained the highest out of all colleges. Certain changes within the college and upcoming changes through all departments play a role in enrollment.

By Kirsten Baird
The Razorback Reporter

The College of Education and Health Professions is located in the Graduate Education Building. Photo by Kirsten Baird.

Despite recent slower UA enrollment rates, the College of Education and Health Professions has the highest increase among all colleges for the 2019-2020 academic year, said a research assistant from the Office of Education Policy.

The college offers 50 degree programs through six academic departments, said Ketevan Mamiseishvili, associate dean for academic and student affairs. Across the six departments, 5,277 students were enrolled in fall 2018. The numbers have only gone up from there, research assistant Charlene Reid said.

“Our college is very diverse with respect to the range of degrees and certifications offered and those options have continually increased over time,” Reid said. “The interconnection between health and education is becoming more complex, making it more difficult to simply separate the two fields of study.”

Thus, any funding to one college must be dispersed throughout all departments.

The money that was given to the college includes a $10 million gift from the Walton Family Foundation, which helped in establishing the Arkansas Academy for Educational Equity, according to the annual report for the college.

The U.S. Department of Education awarded the college a five-year grant totaling $35.7 million to create the Arkansas PROMISE Model Demonstration project, according to the annual report. Many departments have a goal of getting programs accredited, “which will provide students with greater opportunities to enroll in programs that are more in line with their field of interest,” Reid said.

The U.S. Department of Education awarded the college a five-year grant totaling $35.7 million to create the Arkansas PROMISE Model Demonstration project, according to the annual report.

The education department within the College of Education received a favorable review from the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education, according to the annual report. In addition to the changes in the education department, there are also a lot of positive elements within the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing, former clinical adjunct instructor Jessica Newcomb said.

One of the things Newcomb said attracted her most was that the nursing department hired “quality people.”

“The best thing you can bring to students is your experience,” Newcomb said, “and the instructors did that.”

The school of nursing also provides a bridge program, which enables students who are registered nurses, or RNs, to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in one year rather than four, Newcomb said.

“This was a big draw because it was affordable and accredited,” Newcomb said.

Within the Occupational Therapy department, completing the Occupational Therapy House and launching the graduate Occupational Therapy program in January 2020 also will increase enrollment, program director Sherry Muir said.

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