The University of Saskatchewan experienced its highest enrolment to date between May of last year and the end of April of 2021.
Assistant vice-provost of Strategic Enrolment Management, Alison Pickrell, says enrolment of 25,965 is an overall increase of one per cent compared to the previous fiscal hear and the highest enrolment to date for the university.
The number of students in undergraduate and graduate programs increased by two per cent while enrolment decreased in non-degree programs.
Pickrell says that’s because fewer students enrolled in the English language program offered at the USask Language Centre.
She explains that the students tend to come from outside the country and travel restrictions made attending impossible when the pandemic began, but then the Language Centre moved online, and in the fall, students will have the option of taking classes online or in person.
Not surprisingly with the pandemic restrictions, international enrolment went down by seven per cent, with decreases mostly in short-term visiting, exchange, visiting research and English language programs.

Pickrell adds that the number of classes students registered for increased by three per cent.
She suspects that is due to more students taking classes spread over all four terms rather than primarily the fall and winter terms, because online classes mean more flexibility and because there were fewer job opportunities.
Crunching the numbers further, 68 per cent of students are from Saskatchewan, 17 per cent from out of the province and 15 per cent from outside the country, which is similar to previous years.
Gathering information during the pandemic, the university found that many USask students studied from their home communities or moved temporarily closer to family or friends in other provinces.
Many international students stayed in their home country to begin their studies.
That means many of the students from this past year have not yet set foot on campus.
Pickrell says, ” We are looking forward to re-welcoming them as in-person learning opportunities become available over the fall 2021 and winter 2022 terms.”
During the 2020-2021 academic year, Indigenous student enrolment increased by one per cent, with Indigenous students now representing about 13 per cent of the total student population.
However, new Indigenous students starting at USask was down, which Pickrell expects is likely because of a hesitation or inability to start classes remotely.