Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania set an enrollment record this fall with the largest number of students in the school’s history. A total of 9,512 students – 8,605 undergraduates and 907 graduate students – were tallied in the university’s official enrollment report on the 15th day of classes.

This year’s total is an increase of 657 students over fall 2008, when 8,855 students were enrolled. By comparison, 712 students were enrolled at Bloomsburg in 1926, the earliest record available; 2,592 in 1964, the first year master’s-level classes were offered; and 6,316 in 1983, the year the institution became a university.

This fall, there are 5,615 female students, making up 60 percent of BU’s total enrollment. A total of 3,897 males are enrolled.

Bloomsburg and most of the other 13 members of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) experienced substantial enrollment growth this fall. A total of 116,935 students now attend the PASSHE universities, an increase of 4,338 over fall 2008. Approximately 454,000 PASSHE alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.