School is out for summer, but colleges and universities around the state are already thinking about the upcoming school year.
The University of Minnesota announced Monday that they will not require COVID vaccinations for students, faculty and staff, but strongly encourages getting vaccinated.
The decision follows suit with many other schools around the state not requiring COVID vaccinations.
As of right now, Carleton, Macalester, Gustavus, and the Minnesota College of Art and Design are all requiring the COVID vaccine for students.
Vaccine requirement or not, classrooms will be full this fall.
The University of Minnesota says enrollment is at an all-time high with a 12% increase year-over-year for students coming straight from high school.
The University of Minnesota says this year's incoming freshmen could shape up to be one of the most diverse incoming classes that the University has had in recent history.
Bethel says their enrollment is up 2% from last year.
While some schools like Augsburg say they won't see much change.
"In 2019 we had our largest entering class in the University's history. We followed that up with a COVID entering class that was the second largest and this class is shaping up to be about the same size," said Robert Gould the Director of Enrollment at Augsburg.
Of the schools that got back to KARE 11, Gustavus Adolphus reported a 3% dip in first-year enrollment compared to last year.
We are waiting to hear back from other schools about their incoming class.