Lake Campus thriving as enrollment, applications grow

Lake Campus Dean Bonnie Mathies (left) said the enrollment growth is fueled largely by students from the region, but also by neighboring cities in the region.

Bolstered by increases in enrollment and applications, Wright State University’s Lake Campus is bursting at the seams.

University officials detailed that growth during their annual report to the community at the Lake Campus on Wednesday, June 20.

Enrollment for summer classes increased 4.4 percent, and applications for the fall are up 15 percent.

“This campus continues to thrive,” Wright State President David R. Hopkins said. “We’re attracting more students. It looks like we’re going to be full in housing.”

Lake Campus Dean Bonnie Mathies said the growth is fueled largely by students from the region, but also by students from the Toledo and Columbus areas as well as Indiana. She said the growth has put the squeeze on classroom and office space.

“I joke that the next person coming here is going to have to share my office,” Mathies said. “We’re working hard to maximize the space that we have. Everybody’s getting that this is a good secret coming here.”

About 60 university officials, business leaders, lawmakers, students and others attended the presentation by Wright State and the Western Ohio Educational Foundation at James F. Dicke Hall.

Hopkins told the gathering that the Lake Campus has begun offering a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and that next year some engineering students will spend 30 days in Germany in a study abroad program.

Hopkins said the campus has also added a baseball team to its athletics program and recently graduated nine cadets from its police training program.

In answering a question about research, Hopkins said Wright State is part of an effort to make western Ohio a center for unmanned aerial vehicles, is heavily involved in research on micro air vehicles, and is constructing a $37 million building devoted to neuroscience research.