The University of Wisconsin-Superior has the largest freshmen class that it has seen in the past 10 years this fall.

UW-Superior saw a 2.3 percent increase in total enrollment from last year, with a freshmen class of 375 students, bringing the total enrollment at the university up to 2,858 students, said Lee Parker, UW-Superior’s assistant director of admissions

Interim Chancellor Christopher Markwood said in a statement the state of the economy is partially the reason for the increase in enrollment, but not the only factor.

“I am sure that some of our increase can be attributed to the uncertain economic environment as students return to college to enhance their education,” Markwood said in the statement. “However, for the past several years, we have seen new and renovated buildings, additional faculty hiring, new campus-life and academic programs, and an increased effort on recruitment and retention. These investments are paying off.”

Vicki Hajewski, vice chancellor for Campus Life, said the combination of the UW-Superior participating in more intensive recruitment, and economic pressures, including the lack of job availability, provided for a larger freshmen class this year.

Hajewski added the new facilities probably attracted more students as well, including a new student union, a remodeled library and new academic building next fall.

“There have been a lot of variables but we saw growth in our local areas, seems like more students were staying closer to home, the majority of growth was here in our backyard,” Parker said.

Dorms are at their highest occupancy rates since the 1970s, said UW-Superior spokesperson Lynne Williams in an email to The Badger Herald.

She added they are not overcrowded and there are more dorms on campus that can be prepared if necessary.

The university hired 17 new faculty members and the average class size remains small, at 21 students, Williams said.

“It’s been a great start to our year, especially at time when the campus anticipated having more problems,” Hajewski said. “The biggest impact has been that the campus is more vibrant; there are more people around and more activity on campus.”