LARAMIE — University of Wyoming leadership focused on the positive during Tuesday’s state of the university address, but also acknowledged ongoing challenges — like a continued decline in enrollment and whether to allow concealed carry of firearms on campus. Enrollment Overall enrollment is down 0.8%, according to Provost Kevin Carman, with new student enrollment down 2%.

While those statistics aren’t final, they suggest that this is the sixth consecutive year of declining enrollment at Wyoming’s only public university. In 2018, the school tallied 13,047 students. This year, there are a little over 11,000, the lowest it’s been in decades.

Getting into the details, Carman noted that there are areas of growth, including a 0.7% increase among graduate students over last year, international student enrollment reaching pre-pandemic levels and a growing online enrollment. “Although the actual numbers are modest .

.. our online undergraduate enrollment is actually up about 10% year-over-year, due partially to nine new fully online undergraduate degree programs that we’ve launched,” he said.

Efforts to keep students at UW are also going strong, he said, with an increase in student retention. President Ed Seidel noted that UW’s enrollment woes are not unique. “One of the backdrops that the provost mentioned is we have enrollment challenges, as does every university in this country right now,” he said.

He highlighted particular challenges facing Western states, i.