KFDA - NewsChannel 10 / Amarillo News, Weather, SportsArea college raising the bar and setting records

Area college raising the bar and setting records

NewsChannel 10

Portales, New Mexico - One area college is setting records this new school year.

Eastern New Mexico University is experiencing its largest enrollment and biggest freshman class and the growth is changing the face of the university.

The school is seeing a 10% increase, with more than 5,500 students and a freshman class of almost 700.

The school's president attributes this growth to a low tuition and a push for recruitment, which he says is raising the bar.

President Steven Gamble explains, "The quality of the students has gone up which I think makes everybody happy, especially the faculty. Our ACT score has increased about a point and a half in ten years. We're about a half a point above the state average of New Mexico. The increased enrollment will mean more money from the state. A lot of our funding is determined by growth of the institution and there is no 4-year institution in the state that has grown like we have this year."

To accommodate the growth, millions have been spent on renovating the campus, building more housing, adding faculty and more programs.

Gamble believes the school will continue to grow and help Portales grow, giving a boost to the area's economy.