SLIPPERY ROCK — Slippery Rock University has improved its student enrollment and increased its student retention and graduation rates in the past year.

That bucks a trend of declining enrollment among the other 13 universities in the state system.

SRU President Cheryl Norton Friday highlighted some positive data Friday in her report to the SRU trustees.

For the fall 2015 semester, SRU has an enrollment of 8,628, a 1.57 percent increase over the previous school year. It also has increased its enrollment of international students, out-of-state students and graduate students in the past year, Norton said.

“We believed we could make 2015 a transitional year for the university and so we did,” she said.

Norton also referenced two recent independent reports that showed the successes and improvements of the university.

The Education Trust, a national nonprofit organization, recently released the report “Rising Tide: Do College Grad Rate Gains Benefit All Students?”

In the report, SRU is listed as one of the top 15 public four-year institutions in the country for narrowing the gaps between white and underrepresented student in graduation rates.

The report notes that SRU's overall graduation rate has improved by 10.7 percent from 2003 to 2013. While underrepresented students still lag behind white students in graduation rate, the gap has closed by 6.2 percent.

SRU also had an independent study done on its economic impact in the community and region. It found that it has $333 million in economic impact in the area.

For every $1 invested in SRU by the state, it produces $11 in economic impact, Norton said.

“That's a tremendous return on investment,” she said.