A message from Wendy Wintersteen, Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
For the second year in a row, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has set a new record for enrollment.
This fall we have 4,291 undergraduates, an increase of 10 percent over a year ago and 391 more students than fall 2012. We also have more graduate students — 692, an increase of nearly 6 percent from last year.
Overall, the college has 4,983 students, a dramatic increase over last year's 4,555.
Amazingly, our undergraduate enrollment has increased 75 percent since 2005. We are among the very top in enrollment among the nation's agricultural colleges.
We couldn’t have done this without our faculty, staff, student ambassadors, alumni and friends. Working together we have attracted some of the best students in the world.
So, why are students attracted to our college?
Students realize the areas of agriculture and life sciences offer exciting, rewarding, life-changing opportunities. Careers in our college are hot, covering every area of life – from culinary science to microbiology and animal science to agronomy, just to name a few.
Our programs produce great employees. That’s evident every October when we host the largest agricultural and life sciences career day in the nation. Employers compete for our students. For 15 years in a row we’ve been at or near 98 percent placement. Seventy-three percent of our graduates start their careers in Iowa, helping to keep agriculture a vital economic force for the state.
Our college also enjoys an international reputation for high-quality programs, mentors and facilities that prepare leaders. If students want to change the world by tackling the challenges facing Iowa and the globe, they know our College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is the place to be.
We also work hard to financially support students. The college and our departments award more than $2 million in scholarships every year. And we plan to continue to grow our scholarship portfolio.
We couldn’t do any of these without our excellent mentors who teach our students the skills to succeed. Over the past six years, seven of our faculty members have earned national honors in the USDA Food & Agricultural Sciences Excellence in Teaching Awards.
Finally, we are working to proactively support and welcome our increasing student enrollment. You can view some of those actions at www.cals.iastate.edu/enrollment.
We welcome all our new students and look forward to a great academic year!