Utah Valley University (UVU) is set to succeed University of Utah (U.) to become the number one public institution in the state with the largest enrollment over the next decade.
Utah System of Higher Education officials have estimated that UVU's student body will increase 48 percent by 2022, which are approximately about 10,000 students more than the U.
Analysts assess that there will be about 47,000 students at UVU by 2022, when compared with the current 31,600 pupils. Although a quarter of 47,000 students would comprise of part-time students, the 32,000 full-time UVU students would still help the institution to secure the first rank with the largest student mass in the state.
In order to welcome massive amount of students, the UVU administrators are planning to develop physical facilities and online learning.
"We're probably running out of room on the main campus," said UVU President Matthew Holland.
For the past few years, the acceptance rate at UVU is lower because most of the Mormon students are quitting college to leave for LDS-Church related missions. Recently, the church decreased its age limits to participate in its humanitarian services world-wide.
Holland said that the admissions are steadily improving ever since the institution acquired university status, 2008. More number of students is continuing their education to earn four-year degrees over there.
On the whole, the state's public colleges and universities are predicted to add around 37,000 full-time students during the next 10 years.
"That's a significant number of new students," said David Buhler, commissioner for higher education. "If we improve the completion rates, that will go up even more."
The student population will get boosted from Utah's fast population growth and Gov. Gary Herbert's mission to augment the percentage of Utahns through post-high school certification to 66 percent by 2020.
