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Utah Colleges Expected To Grow By 60,000 Students Over Next 10 Years

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The University of Utah in Salt Lake City currently has 32,000 students.

Data released this week by the Utah System of Higher Education shows that enrollment is up at nearly every state college and there are no signs of slowing down.

This year there are nearly 5,000 additional students at Utah colleges. Last year that number was about the same.

 

“This is really right in line with our 10-year projections which are that we will grow by about 60,000 students in the next decade," says David Buhler, Utah’s Commissioner of Higher Education.

 

That’s the equivalent of two University of Utah’s. And that’s a conservative estimate.

 

As of right now there are no plans to build any new public universities. Schools are simply making do. But Buhler says there are some growing pains.

 

Like with internet. These days students have two or three devices connected to WiFi at any given time - and there are more of them - so providing that service has been a struggle.

 

Also, faculty. 60,000 more students means thousands more teachers, and it’s unclear where they will all come from.

 

But Buhler isn’t too worried. At a time when some states are seeing their public schools shrink, he’s happy with the problems Utah has.

 

Lee Hale began listening to KUER while he was teaching English at a Middle School in West Jordan (his one hour commute made for plenty of listening time). Inspired by what he heard he applied for the Kroc Fellowship at NPR headquarters in DC and to his surprise, he got it. Since then he has reported on topics ranging from TSA PreCheck to micro apartments in overcrowded cities to the various ways zoo animals stay cool in the summer heat. But, his primary focus has always been education and he returns to Utah to cover the same schools he was teaching in not long ago. Lee is a graduate of Brigham Young University and is also fascinated with the way religion intersects with the culture and communities of the Beehive State. He hopes to tell stories that accurately reflect the beliefs that Utahns hold dear.
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