SLIPPERY ROCK — The Rock just keeps on growing.

Slippery Rock University set the record for the highest enrollment in the institution’s history with 8,881 students at the university this fall.

That includes both undergraduate and graduate students, online and on campus. The previous record was 8,852 in 2010.

“It is directly due to new academic programs, more scholarships and having a very vibrant community that is attractive to both undergraduate and graduate students,” said Amanda Yale, associate provost of SRU enrollment services.

[JUMP] Specifically, Yale pointed to the university’s undergraduate programs that lead to a graduate degree. Slippery Rock’s “3+3, 3+2, and 4+1” programs allow students to get their undergraduate and graduate degrees in a total of six or five years combined, having the plan laid out for them at the start.

“That’s very attractive to our prospective students and their families,” Yale said.

Specific undergraduate programs that have gained enrollment include biology, exercise science, business, safety management and criminology, specifically Homeland Security.

Yale attributes this to “a strong market demand” for jobs in these fields.

Graduate programs that have seen an increase in enrollment include physician assistant study, data analytics, public health and special education.

While enrollment is generally down among schools in Western Pennsylvania, Slippery Rock has been able to increase in the past few years.

Yale attributes these to three key factors.

“Market-demand academic programs are incredibly important, and we’ve been developing a number of those over the past four years,” she said. “Second is the availability of scholarships that are both academic and need-based, and thirdly is having a very vibrant living and learning campus where students are engaged and involved in and out of the classroom.”