Message from Interim Chancellor Heather Norris
This morning, in celebration and appreciation of students in kindergarten through 8th grade across the High Country, App State’s volleyball team partnered with the Reich College of Education to host more than 1,000 K–8 students from across the region to watch the Mountaineers defeat ETSU as part of the team’s Education Day match. Thank you to Coach Sarah Rumely Noble and her team, the faculty and staff of Reich College and App State Athletics staff members for hosting this wonderful community outreach event.
A day celebrating education is also an excellent opportunity to congratulate Reich College’s College Access Partnerships program team for securing the largest single grant ever awarded to the university: $35 million. The grant, from the U.S. Department of Education, will allow the university to expand our GEAR UP college access program, providing college and career services to thousands of middle and high school students. App State is one of only 18 institutions nationwide awarded a GEAR UP grant in 2024. I applaud College Access Partnerships Executive Director Dr. James Beeler and GEAR UP Director Corinne Smith for their continued leadership and efforts to help ensure that access to higher education is available for thousands more students in our region. I hope you’ll read this news story about this remarkable achievement.
Access to education has been our university’s mission for 125 years. Last week, like many other UNC System schools, we reported our official enrollment numbers for the academic year and marked another year of providing access to education for students throughout the state and region. We’ll send this news release, which I hope you’ll take time to read, to media later today. A few key highlights include:
- Total enrollment is 21,570 — a 1.5% increase since fall 2023. Strong enrollment is critical to our future success and ability to meet our founding mission of providing access to education.
- Boone campus enrollment is 18,601. This represents intentional management to keep the population of Boone students steady and grow in areas that have more capacity: the Hickory campus and online.
- Hickory campus enrollment is 511. This represents a 41% increase from last year.
- Online student enrollment is 2,517— nearly a 24% increase since fall 2023 and marking an increase in this population for the fifth consecutive year. We appreciate the opportunity to partner with Project Kitty Hawk (PKH) to launch two PKH-supported undergraduate programs this fall, in health care management and in supply chain management.
- Transfer student enrollment is 5,160 — the largest transfer student population in university history.
- Our rural and first-generation student populations increased, with each population representing about one-third of the overall undergraduate student population.
- Graduate student enrollment has increased by 9% since last year, to 2,010, thanks to program offerings designed to meet workforce demands, as well as actions to remove enrollment barriers.
- App State’s student retention and graduation rates — two measurements used in higher education to measure student success — also remain strong and well above national averages.
These efforts represent campuswide dedication to ensuring Appalachian State University maintains its status as a thriving, vibrant and successful institution with a national reputation for excellence. Thank you!
This week, we held our annual Safety Week. Programming included the annual Health, Wellness and Safety Festival held on Sanford Mall on Wednesday. Thank you to the App State Police Department, App State’s Office of Environmental Health, Safety and Emergency Management and the Boone Fire Department for joining us to share important information with our campus community and help keep us all safe.
Tomorrow, the Mountaineer football team will take on Clemson on the road, and we’re expecting about 5,000 App State fans to travel for the game. Thanks to everyone who will be supporting our football team in Boone, Clemson and beyond!
Heather Norris
Interim Chancellor
Three Appalachian State University Education Peer Ambassadors join Rebekah Saylors, communications director for App State’s Reich College of Education, far left, on the court during the App State volleyball team’s Education Day match against ETSU. These teacher education majors serve as the student face of teacher education and are leaders in the Reich College. Pictured with Rebekah, from left to right, are Jordan SabbaghRabaiotti, a junior special education major from Winston-Salem; Amanda Jacobs, a junior elementary education major from Ocean Isle; and Alex Greene, a senior from Wilmington who is majoring in languages, literatures and cultures-Spanish education (K-12). This photo was taken by Kyla Willoughby, in University Communications.
The second week of classes at App State has been active and exciting for App State students, faculty and staff. Shown from left to right are App State’s new cybersecurity lab in Peacock Hall on the Boone campus; App State Police Department Master Police Officer Cashae Cook ’14 talking with junior psychology major Liam Bormes at the Health, Wellness and Safety Festival on Sanford Mall during Safety Week; and members of App State’s GEAR UP college access program, which provides college and career services to thousands of middle and high school students across our region. Thank you to University Communications’ Chase Reynolds for capturing the first two photos, and thanks to the GEAR UP team for submitting the third image.
