Howard University leaders on Friday hailed the second-largest freshman class in 15 years, an influx of 1,596 new students who have helped the school rebound from an enrollment plunge a year ago.
University President Sidney A. Ribeau, speaking at a convocation on the campus in Northwest Washington, told the Class of 2017 that its size is evidence that Howard is on the rise after a trying year for one of the nation’s most prestigious historically black centers of higher learning.
“Now, I’m not one to argue with the pundits and the newspapers,” Ribeau said, “but I think numbers need to speak for themselves sometimes. There’s a demand for the Howard product. There’s a demand for a Howard education. And these students represent that demand.”
Total enrollment stands at more than 10,330, Ribeau said, up 3 percent from the fall 2012 count of 10,002. That marks a partial recovery from last year’s drop of 5 percent.
