MARSHALL — Southwest Minnesota State University’s class of incoming first-year students is one of its biggest and most diverse in years, and student retention is at a 20-year high, university officials said this week.

SMSU announced this week that the university has 349 new first-year students, based on 10-day enrollment data. That’s an increase of 17.5% from last year, SMSU President Kumara Jayasuriya said. It’s also the university’s largest incoming class since 2016.

Overall enrollment was up by about 20 students, with a total of 2,431 degree-seeking students, he said.

“(Enrollment) being up is huge, because we are one of very few schools,” Jayasuriya said Tuesday. Many colleges and universities in Minnesota have seen enrollment drop this year, partly because of COVID-19.

“These numbers are very positive and a tribute to the hard work and commitment of our faculty and staff led by our Office of Admission,” Jayasuriya said in the university’s announcement.

While a bigger first-year enrollment is good news for the university, Jayasuriya said they won’t stop there. SMSU has goals to increase new enrollment by at least 10% next year.

“It’s going to be heavy lifting,” he said, but it will be important for the university’s future. “For total enrollment to go up substantially, we need about two or three good incoming classes.”

Fall enrollment data showed that SMSU’s first-year students are also more diverse this year, Jayasuriya said. Almost one-third of the incoming class were students of color, compared to 21% of first-year students in 2019, he said.

One enrollment demographic was way down this fall, however. Jayasuriya said SMSU had only two incoming international students. The drop in international students was due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, he said. Jayasuriya said SMSU still has several partnerships with other countries, and he hopes that new international students will be able to attend SMSU in the future.

Student retention at SMSU was 74% this fall, compared to 67% last year, Jayasuriya said.

“That’s the highest it’s been in 20 years,” he said. “People are very excited here.”

Total enrollment at SMSU doesn’t just include degree-seeking students. The university’s 30-day enrollment for this fall was 6,742, which includes both degree-seeking students and high school students taking college classes through programs like Concurrent Enrollment or Post-Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO).

Jayasuriya said it wasn’t easy to pinpoint one specific reason why first-year enrollment and retention numbers were up at SMSU. This year the university started several new initiatives geared toward encouraging new students to enroll. The initiatives included the Regional Scholars program, which awards scholarships for students at southwest Minnesota high schools, and the Mustang Pathway residential program, which gives prospective SMSU students a head start on adjusting to college. Other efforts included expanding sports programs to go along with students’ interests — SMSU offered an e-sports program and club shooting sports this year.

“We are working from every direction,” Jayasuriya said.

Offering support and flexibility for returning students has also been important as Minnesota adjusts to the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

“I give kudos to our Student Success team,” he said. Team members contacted individual students during the pandemic to ask how they could help.

SMSU also maintained a variety of learning options for students as it re-opened for classes. Jayasuriya said about half of the courses being offered at the university meet face-to-face, while another 30% are operating on a hybrid or high-flex model, where students attend classes both in person and through distance learning.