Pacific's enrollment reaches 6,755 students, a record for the 172-year-old university

Stockton may not be considered a college town, but more students are coming to the city to complete their higher education.

This semester, University of the Pacific reached a record-setting enrollment of 6,755 students across its three campuses in Stockton, Sacramento and San Francisco. The previous high for overall enrollment was 6,717 students set in 2010. Total enrollment is up nearly 8% from last year and 11% over the past two years.

Pacific's record enrollment comes as community colleges and universities nationwide have seen enrollment numbers decline in recent years.

In its 172nd year, Pacific saw a dramatic increase in international students. There are 872 international students enrolled at Pacific, a 30% increase from last year. They now represent nearly 13% of the overall student population.

This fall, Pacific has students from 67 countries across six continents and from 46 states.

Chris Ferguson, Pacific's vice president for enrollment strategy, said that when he joined the university in 2020, he saw potential for growth in international student enrollment.

"We did not have a large percentage of international students and I was used to having larger percentages at other institutions," Ferguson said.

Studies have shown that international students are key to a strong economy.

During the 2021-2022 academic year, international students studying at U.S. colleges and universities contributed nearly $34 billion and added 335,423 jobs to the U.S. economy, according to a report by NAFSA: Association of International Educators — a nonprofit association dedicated to international education and exchange.

Ferguson said he believes the university's student population has grown not only because of how the school has recruited, but who it's recruited.

"We're recruiting families, not just students anymore," he said. "Communicating to prospective parents just as much as we do to prospective students."

It's a display of "small college caring," as Ferguson puts it.

Parent orientations and parent-to-parent Zoom chats — virtual sessions in which parents of admitted students can connect with Pacific President Christopher Callahan and ask questions about what students can expect when they arrive on campus — are two of the ways faculty have tried to engage with families. Ferguson participated in the Zoom chats with Callahan during the COVID-19 lockdown.

"I have children, at the time one was in college and one was a graduate of college. I also had a senior in high school. President Callahan had a son in college and two graduates ... in addition to our roles at University of the Pacific, we're also parents, and it was great to have those open discussions with parents."

'Relationships that last a lifetime'

Those relationships, coupled with the school's course options, are what have led to Pacific's success, according to Callahan.

"There's two different elements going on," Callahan explained. "One is, focus on what we've always done so well, which is the focus on the student. The student experience and the relationships between faculty and students, and the small, intimate classroom sizes ... these relationships that last a lifetime in many cases. To me, that's always going to be the core of who we are."

"At the same time, we're expanding into new areas, into new kinds of disciplines, and preparing these young students for professions that didn't exist a few years ago," Callahan said.

One modern discipline Pacific offers is computer science. The School of Engineering and Computer Science just hit its highest enrollment in history at 891 students, while the Eberhardt School of Business has also seen record growth — 657 students are enrolled in the school this fall.

"Our school of computer science has a co-op program so our students in that school actually get course credit for working in the field, before they complete their coursework and graduate," Ferguson said. "Our business students are required to do an internship as well. A lot of that practical application is what differentiates us from other larger institutions where the students may not have the opportunity to do that, or it's not built into the curriculum."

While Pacific's degree and program options may be expanding, faculty says some things won't change.

Pacific has long been known as a close-knit university where students can receive individual attention from professors. Its leaders say they intend to keep it that way.

"When you look at the classrooms, when you look at the learning environments, when you look at how students and professors are interacting, that is really a fantastic example of the very small college experience and yet it's in a setting where we have the advantages of a much larger university," Callahan said. "That's what makes Pacific special and a little unusual."

Record reporter Hannah Workman covers news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at hworkman@recordnet.com or on Twitter @byhannahworkman. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.

This article originally appeared on The Record: At 172 years old, Pacific's enrollment reaches record numbers