Every September, the Center for Assessment and Institutional Research releases statistics that break down enrollment at Missouri Southern.

While enrollment has dropped very slightly since the fall of 2013 (by three students), the number of first-time students increased from 808 to 856.

Also increasing was the number of minority students enrolled, which rose from 955 to 1,080. This marked the second consecutive year that the number of enrolled minority students saw a 2 percent increase.

The percentage of students of minority descent has nearly doubled in the past 10 years, going from 10 percent in 2004 to 19 percent in 2014.

Staying in tune with the last few years, women outnumber men at Southern by nearly 1,000 people–making up nearly 58 percent of the student body. The 58 percent mark hasn’t changed in the last five years.

Total enrollment sits at 5,613, compared to 5,616 last year. Since 2004, the highest number of enrolled students in a year was 5,802 in 2010.