UVSC has defied a statewide trend of declining enrollment this year and will add nearly $5 million in tuition money and state funding to its pockets.

The Utah System of Higher Education issued a third-week enrollment report on Tuesday, showing the number of students taking classes full-time at Utah Valley State College up by 138 over last year for a total of 13,877. President Bill Sederburg said the increase is due to aggressive recruiting of new and transfer students. Transfer student enrollment was up by 46 percent, to 1,531.

UVSC's total headcount was down from 24,487 last year to 23,305 this year. The college attributes that decrease to changes in concurrent enrollment policy.

Because the increased full-time enrollment is used to allocate state funding, Sederburg said the numbers translate into a 5 percent infusion of cash into the college's $99.8 million budget for this year. That money will include tuition dollars, as well as a 3.5 percent increase in funding from the Legislature for salaries.

Last year the college had to cut $5 million in expenditures when its full-time student number dropped. This year, administrators budgeted for three scenarios: declining enrollment, flat enrollment and growing enrollment. Because the increase this year was slight, the college will work under the flat enrollment scenario, Sederburg said. "We're looking at a modest increase in the budget."

UVSC was among four of 10 public state institutions that saw an increase in enrollment. Southern Utah University and Snow College had increases in both headcount and full-time students. Weber State University saw a nearly 2 percent increase in headcount, but had about a 1 percent decrease in full-time numbers.

All other institutions saw their numbers decline. The largest drop was at Dixie State College, which counted 1,000 fewer students and 340 full-time students than last year.

"Although we're experiencing a small decline in the number of students enrolling in college, it is concerning when you think of the potential impact it will have on the lives of individuals," said Commissioner of Higher Education Richard Kendell. "Postsecondary education provides work force training and increased income potential for students -- it produces self-sustaining adults who in turn can support a family."

Anna Chang-Yen can be reached at 344-2549 or annac@heraldextra.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page B1.