Rizal Tech ENROLMENT STATS
The enrolment figures of the University are fascinating to study. It rose steadily from School Year 2003 to 2004 up to SY 2007 to 2008 and then faltered in SY 2008 to 2009 to SY 20019 to 2010. It recovered in SY 2010 to 2011 and then started taking off in SY 2011 to 2012 to SY 2015 to 2016.
We need more research to explain what happened in the past or the factors that could explain these figures.
In SY 2003-2004 first and second semesters, 14,209 and 12, 361.
It happens most of the time that enrolment goes down during the second semester.
In SY 2004-2005, 15,529 and 13,601. Again the enrolment in the second semester went down.
In SY 2005-2006, 1st semester was 18,682, and 2nd semester was 16,181. Enrolment once again decreased. This was the semester when BS Nursing was introduced.
In SY 2006-2007, we had 19,700 students in the 1st semester and 17,490 in the second semester.
In SY 2007-2008 we breached the 20,000 mark for the first time with 20,771 students. In the 2nd semester it was reduced to 18,230.
After four consecutive years of steady increase in enrolment, the enrolment in the 1st semester of SY 2008-2009 decreased to 19,048, while in the 2nd semester, the figure was 18,230.
In the 1st semester of SY 2009-2010 the enrolment plunged to 17,137. In the second semester, something highly unexpected happened: enrolment increased to 17,524. As VPAA at the time, I remember there were worries that we could be losing more students if we did not do anything. Some deans proposed that we should start admitting transferees which we did, and this move stopped the decline.
In SY 2010-2011 1st semester the enrolment was 19,265 while in the 2nd semester it was 17,404. The enrolment picked up substantially.
In the first enrolment during my first regular year as President (2011-2012), not counting the Summer enrolment for 2011 which itself substantially increased from the previous summers, the figure for the 1st semester jumped to 20,944 and for the 2nd semester was 18,917.
In the 1st semester of SY 2012-2013 the enrolment figure was 22,050 and for the 2nd semester it breached the 20,000 mark for the first time at 20,092.
For SY 2013-2014, the 1st semester enrolment was 24, 420. We thought at the time that exceeding 24,000 could not be achieved but we did. In the 2nd semester it was 22,401.
In 2014-2015 we reached another record for the 1st semester with 28,059 students enrolled. In the 2nd semester, the number of students was 25,579, more than the enrolment for the 1st semester of the previous school year.
This semester, SY 2015-2016, we breached the 30,000-mark with 30,653 students.
The enrolment figure for the 1st semesters from SY 2011-2012 to SY 2015-2016 steadily rose by more than 2,000 students per year.
The steady increase in our enrolment could be attributed to putting in place our basic services to the students such as the vastly improved enrolment system, putting instruction and research in order, putting much of our facilities in good order such as installing hundreds of electric fans in the classrooms, cleaning our facilities, reminding our faculty members to be more serious in their teaching and in the submission of grades, and by putting computers in the libraries and in the laboratories.
We have done things such as the installation of drinking fountains in strategic places in the two campuses, the solicitation of thousands of scholarships for the students, the improvement of employee morale through the giving of unprecedented benefits to them, and the acquisition of laboratory equipment and supplies.
Our campuses have been very peaceful. Gone are the fraternity rumbles which so bedeviled us in the past. Gone were the days when outsiders could enter the campus with impunity, destroying our sense of security.
We have worked hard to attain quality education which greatly benefits our graduates. The RTU is known for her hardworking and disciplined graduates.
Additional work that we have done include the purchase of library books, support to the sports program of the University which greatly boosts student and employee pride in the University, and by doing simple and small things that eventually accumulated and have given our clients the peace of mind with the thought that the University leadership cares for their welfare.