University of Cincinnati Growth Builds on Rising Enrollment, New Programs, New Facilities

The 2005-06 academic year begins Wednesday, Sept. 21, at the University of Cincinnati. The university is expected to welcome approximately 35,500 students. This number will include approximately 5,100 first-time students - the largest entering class in 16 years. 

Autumn quarter kicks off with Welcome Week, an opportunity for new students to learn about and get involved in campus life, while allowing returning students the chance to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. Welcome Week begins with the annual Convocation at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17 at Fifth Third Arena, Shoemaker Center, followed by a picnic on UC’s MainStreet. Events continue throughout the first week of classes.

The University of Cincinnati will mark some significant anniversaries during the 2005-06 year. Most important is the 100^th anniversary of the invention of cooperative education – the real-world education system in which students alternate time spent in school with paid, professional experience related directly to their studies. When they graduate, UC’s co-op students have about a year-and-a-half of experience that was carefully planned to take them from inexperience to a high level of professional competence. “Co-op” was invented at UC in 1906.

Two of UC’s 16 colleges will also celebrate the century mark this year – the College of Business and the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services.

The academic year will see the completion of UC’s MainStreet project, which has opened in phases since 2002. The final phase will feature a state-of-the-art recreation center. When completed in January 2006, the 350,000-square-foot Campus Recreation Center will house residential, dining, study, shopping and exercise options all under one roof.

When classes begin at the University of Cincinnati the Uptown area swells with a student population approximately equal to Ohio cities like Fairborn, Upper Arlington, or Lancaster. Traffic in the Uptown area will be somewhat congested for the first week of classes.

For more information about the new year at UC, see:

• A Record Class of New Students
• New Buildings In and Around Campus 
• Welcome Week activities
• Living and Learning: UC’s Residence Hall community
• Parking and Transportation tips
• New academic programs at UC
• More Back-to-School news items