William Carey officials are optimistic for Fall enrollment

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Fall semester is right around the corner for William Carey University.

There have been some concerns about enrollment due to the devastating EF-3 tornado that hit William Carey in January.

But, things are looking well for the Crusaders.

Summer enrollment is up 2% compared to last year's, and the university has an 86% residential occupancy. And William Carey officials said they are very optimistic when it comes to Fall enrollment.

Valerie Bridgeforth, Vice President for Student Support said, "We've shared the message to our students and our campus community that yes we are recovering from the tornado, but the university is still open. And that's the message we'll still convey for the Fall as well. So we expect that our Fall enrollment will be very strong. At this point, we are about 3% less in student enrollment for the Fall than we were last year at this point. However, we still have many registration days left between now and the start of classes, and we feel that we will see those numbers increase by the Fall."

The next Fall registration day is July 12, and the last one will be on August 23.

Classes begin on August 28.