Photo courtesy of SMSU Southwest Minnesota State University students walk together with one another laughing on campus in Marshall during the 2024-25 school year.

MARSHALL — Southwest Minnesota State University reported another strong enrollment climb during the 2024-25 school year with a 17.8% spring semester increase from last year’s spring term, accounting for 2,791 students.

The retention of students from this school year’s fall to spring team is also 86.3%, and marks a 20.4% total enrollment increase over the last five years.

“SMSU continues to be the fastest-growing in the Minnesota State system,” SMSU President Kumara Jayasuriya said. “I am incredibly proud of the efforts across our campus to achieve this unprecedented growth.”

The university kicked off the school year with an overall 14.9% headcount increase from the previous year. There was a 2.8% increase in undergraduate students, the transfer student enrollment saw a 43.9% increase for both in-person and online, and there was a 42% jump for international enrollment when classes first started in the fall.

The increase in spring enrollment comes after the news that SMSU announced it will be moving forward to develop a bachelor of science and master of social work program, both targeted to launch in fall 2026.

Jayasuriya has spoken about the need of creating the programs to help with work enforcement in the healthcare and social work fields.

“Two programs that people ask us to start and move forward with is a master’s degree in social work because they need a master’s degree to practice, and nursing,” Jayasuriya told the Independent in April. “That’s why it’s important to support the university general funds.”

The nursing program will partner with Avera Health, and the social work master’s degree will focus on two concentrations: Addressing the need of more mental health services, and preparing social workers to lead organizations of all sizes.

The two programs will thoroughly prepare students to take the NCLEX-RN nursing licensure exam, and the Association of Social Work Board (ASWB) master’s level exam.

The School of Business, which partners with North Star Mutual Insurance, also continues to see good enrollment numbers in accounting, management and marketing. According to SMSU, the social work, psychology and education programs are amongst the most popular at the university.

“While the state budget situation is tenuous, our growth puts us in a more positive position than many other campuses across the system, which allows us to continue putting students first,” Jayasuriya said.

SMSU, along with all Minnesota State colleges and universities, are currently in a waiting period for Fiscal Year 2026-27 funding, which the system is requesting $465 million between student support, workforce-focused support, system operations and critical infrastructure. The funding would be shared among the system’s 26 colleges and seven universities.

The legislative session began on Jan. 14 and ends May 19. The Board of Trustees will hear the first reading of the fiscal year 2026 budgets on May 20, and approvals will be made July 17 and 18.