SLIPPERY ROCK — Slippery Rock University opened its 2017 spring semester by posting yet another enrollment gain, school officials announced Monday.

The school opened the semester with 8,307 students — an increase of 1.49 percent compared with last spring's enrollment of 8,155. Graduate student enrollment increased by 78 students, or 7.18 percent, along with an undergraduate enrollment increase of 44 students.

SRU President Cheryl Norton, who is retiring later this year, praised the school's steady growth.

“We are extremely proud that once again our university is one of the few institutions to start the spring semester with an enrollment gain,” she said.

The steady enrollment gain for spring semester follows a fall 2016 semester in which SRU set a record for the highest enrollment in university history: 8,881. The previous record had been set in 2010.

Norton said the university's investment in “market-driven” programs like physician assistant and cyber security degrees are a key to its success, as well as its healthy financial dashboard rating with the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.

The dashboard rankings were launched in 2015 and evaluate state schools' financial health using metrics like market demand, operating efficiency and financial performance. SRU is ranked second out of the state's 14 schools according to rankings released earlier this month.