Remember the long lines for paper-based registration in 2001, 2002 and even 2003? We made a dent in 2004 and improved considerably in 2005 but even in 2006, we ended up with anytime but not anywhere registration. The lines were better in 2005 than 2004 and 2006 was an improvement on 2005 but we still had lines. Shorter lines, more manageable numbers, but lines nonetheless.

Well in 2007 we had anytime anywhere registration and the lines were gone! Finally! Anytime anywhere registration, from all reports, was a tremendous success.

A large group of our returning students registered using off-campus computer facilities. Registration opened on August 13, 2007 and within the first five days 2,500 students had registered. As of Monday, September 10, approximately 95 percent of our returning students had completed registration. The number of students registered for the current academic year in all categories is expected to grow well beyond 14,500. At the time of writing this article (Monday 10 September) the student registration figures for the start of the 2007/2008 academic year stood at 13, 478 students with a freshman class at this time of 3,276. Nearly 900 post graduate students also registered.

Our freshman undergraduate class continues to attract some of the best students completing the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Exam (CAPE). In the Faculty of Engineering over 67 percent of the student intake had in excess of nine points, Faculty of Social Sciences over 40 percent. In the Faculty of Medical Sciences over 85 percent across all programmes in all the Schools had in excess of 12 points or a high quality first degree. In Medicine only A students made it into the programme. A breakdown of our current new undergraduate enrolment shows that just about 50 percent of our students are registered in the Science based faculties. The Campus is targeting a 55 percent Science based registration by 2012.

The global trend towards continuing education for mature individuals is very much alive on the St. Augustine Campus. A mature student is designated as any student over the age of 25 years. At this time the St. Augustine Campus is pleased to have over 40 percent of its student population as mature students. This provides a unique learning environment mixing the theory with the practical experience of older students which can be of benefit to younger students entering University from high school. However 2,600 freshers, representing 62 percent of the new intake, are under the age of 24.

The Evening University also attracts working adults and this initiative, which started three years ago, can be deemed a success. Close to 1,500 students are now enrolled in the Evening University.

Over 200 regional and international students representing 27 countries enrolled at the start of the new term. Some of the countries include: Canada, USA, UK, Botswana, Nigeria and India. The largest group came from Botswana and is registered in the Faculty of Medical Sciences.

In terms of gender, females continue to outnumber the males representing 68 percent of the student body, well over two-thirds of the incoming student population. The distribution of students by religion shows that the largest religious group on campus comprised Christians—53 percent, to be followed by Hindus 19 percent and Muslims approximately 6 percent. A fair percentage declared no religion.

The largest faculty continues to be Social Sciences with student enrolment being 31 percent followed closely and surprisingly by Science and Agriculture 27 percent. The intake for Humanities and Education was 17 percent while 12 percent was Engineering and 11 percent Medical Sciences. The Faculty of Law had an intake of 2 percent.