It's move-in week for thousands of first-year students at the area's largest universities.
The University of Cincinnati is reporting its largest class of incoming freshmen in the school's history this fall, with more than 9,000 new students enrolling for their first year. UC is also projecting a large overall enrollment total, with an estimated 55,000 students enrolled across its three campuses and online academic offerings.
Carl Dieso, UC's Assistant Vice President of Campus Services, says the university has seen sustained growth over the past decade, increasing its total enrollment by more than 10,000 since 2016.
"The momentum is so amazing around here. People continue to say, 'I want to be a Bearcat,'" Dieso told WVXU.
Dieso credits that growth to the attractiveness of the school's academic programs and campus life. UC recently shared that students in its cooperative education and professional studies program earned a combined total of $99.5 million — about $13,000 per student — during the 2025-2026 academic year by working in professional environments while enrolled at the university.
Max Suskin, an incoming freshman from Illinois who moved into his dorm on Wednesday, says he chose to attend UC because of the engineering program, co-op opportunities, and social aspect of attending a large university. Now, he's figuring out how he'll manage it all.
"I think the thing I'm most nervous about is keeping up with my homework and keeping up with studying with all the distractions around," Suskin said. "You've got to find a good balance between classes and having fun."
Xavier University is also reporting a sizeable jump in new student enrollment. After a drop last fall, the university says it's welcoming 950 freshmen to campus this year, a 30% increase.
Xavier's leadership attributes the enrollment growth to the launch of several new undergraduate degree programs related to artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and health science, which it says better align with student demand.
Other area schools are showing steady new student enrollment. Miami University is estimating similar figures as last fall, with around 4,000 freshmen arriving on the Oxford campus this year. Northern Kentucky University is reporting 1,400 incoming freshmen, and a slightly smaller total enrollment than last year, with 14,697 students.
Both Miami and NKU have adjusted their academic offerings in recent years to attract more students.
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