Virginia's population has grown by more than half a million residents since 2000, according to a report released Monday by the University's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. As the commonwealth's population increases, University administrators are preparing to accommodate a larger student body.
Since 2000, Virginia's population -- which is the 12th-largest in the nation -- expanded by 633,000 to a total of 7.7 million people, the report said.
Center research assistant Michael Spar said the commonwealth's growth was tabulated using multiple regression equation based on input from each county and independent city in the state. Factors taken into consideration include current housing units in an area, the number of children in the first through eighth grades, births during the last three years, the number of driver's licenses issued and the total number of independent state income tax returns filed from each locality,
Spar said population fluctuations occur due to natural increase, which results from the birth-to-death ratio, and migration, which is "related to trying to find work."
While there are small pockets of rapid growth throughout Virginia, many areas have seen constant or declining populations.
"If you look at the state's 134 counties and cities, there are a relatively small number that are growing rapidly," Spar said. "The ones that are growing rapidly are mostly in northern Virginia, the suburbs around Richmond and the Tidewater area."
Past population growth in the commonwealth has led to increased enrollment at the University, according to Dean of Admissions John Blackburn. Admission levels, however, are not based on the total growth of Virginia's citizenry, but rather on the type of population growth.
"We want to serve the top students in the state, and it does affect us when there is growth, especially if it is growth in the college-bound population," Blackburn said.
Enrollment at the University is also impacted by the commonwealth's needs, said George Stovall, University director of Institutional Assessment and Studies.
"The University has a management agreement with the governor and the legislature that we will take certain needs of the state into account," Stovall said. "That management agreement has a huge impact on the enrollment growth and the emphasis we put on different majors and things like that."
Stovall cited fields such as nursing, education, math and science as targeted areas of enrollment growth consistent with the commonwealth's needs.
The Board of Visitors, according to Stovall, has approved enrollment projections through the 2013-14 academic year.
"The projected number of undergraduate students for the fall of 2013 is 14,125," he said. "That compares to 13,636 enrolled this fall"
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