Matching a five-year trend of increasing enrollment rates, this fall Iowa State will have more incoming students on its hands than ever before.

A record-setting 4,162 incoming freshmen- an increase of 286 students from last year – have enrolled for the fall semester.

Nearly 300 transfer students have accepted admission to Iowa State, and it is estimated that 5,086 new students will be attending Iowa State this fall.

“I’ve worked at Iowa State for 19 years and I’ve never been as excited about our success than I am now,” said Phil Caffrey, associate director of admissions. “We still feel very optimistic on gaining more transfer students. They often take longer to accept their offer of admission.”

With record-high enrollment as of May 1, he said the Admissions Office is confident the number will remain steady or increase over the summer.

The Admissions Office is very excited about their success, Caffrey said.

“In comparison to other colleges and universities, I don’t know that anybody is working harder than Iowa State and its recruitment effort,” Caffrey said.

“I’m not just talking about the admissions staff. This is a university-wide effort. The administration gives its leadership and support, without which we could never achieve the success we have attained.”

With competition from other colleges and universities increasing every year, Iowa State has used many recruitment techniques to enroll students, Caffrey said.

Iowa State has a telemarketing campaign in which ISU representatives call students to answer any questions they may have and check on their progress in the enrollment process.

Along with the telephone calls, Caffrey said many students receive recruitment CD-ROMs and pamphlets to inform students about different majors and colleges within Iowa State.

“In the past, families have commented on how impressed they were with the communication from Iowa State,” Caffrey said.

Iowa State has also broadened its out-of-state recruitment. ISU recruitment targets students on the East and West coasts as well as in the South, Caffrey said.

“That doesn’t mean that we’re relenting on the recruitment effort in the state of Iowa,” Caffrey said.

“We blanket the state every year with information and representatives from Iowa State. In fact, almost every single high school in the state of Iowa is visited by an ISU representative to speak to and recruit graduating seniors.”

Incoming freshman Megan Wackerbarth said she was pleased with the information Iowa State sent her.

“I received many helpful pamphlets that informed me on the social and academic aspects of Iowa State,” she said. “I really felt like they were trying to communicate with me and genuinely wanted me at this university.”

Besides the university working to recruit students, Caffrey said the community does a lot to help with enrollment. The mayor of Ames, the Department of Public Safety and local churches sent letters to students welcoming them to Iowa State and informing them of new opportunities.

“We have a very sophisticated communication stream to our students,” Caffrey said.

“What makes this year especially good is that last year was an outstanding year for Iowa State, and our numbers look even better this year.”