Mansfield University is officially in its 164th academic year. The university welcomed first-year and returning students through its doors during the opening weekend (August 20-22, 2021) ahead of the official commencement of the academic year on Monday, August 23.
On August 20, Mansfield’s marching band ushered the first-year students into Straughn Hall for the Convocation ceremony. The school’s leadership welcomed them into the institution where they would spend the next four years of their academic lives. Afterward, the new students listened to the ceremony’s featured speaker Dr. Mathew Haner, a professor in the school’s Department of Business Administration, Mathematics and Computer Information Systems.
In his address, Dr. Haner extended a special welcome to the international students and then narrated how his grandfather enrolled at Mansfield after serving in the military during World War II. He credited that decision for putting his family in the middle class and eventually making it possible for himself to earn a higher education on his way to becoming a professor. While the world had changed a lot since the 1960s, when his grandfather was a student, he affirmed that education from Mansfield was still a step toward a better future for all incoming students.
Mansfield’s total headcount enrolment for the fall of 2021 was 1,803. The incoming class comprised students from 22 US states, including Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Washington, and Texas. It also included international students from seven countries, including Canada, China, Israel, France, and Spain. It was the third straight year that the university was increasing its headcount. Together with Cheyney University, the two were the only higher education institutions in Pennsylvania to record an enrollment increase by the fall of 2021.
According to the school’s leadership, this growth was attributable to its faculty and staff’s dedication and the unique educational experience it offered students. Part of this experience was affordability. Ahead of the new academic year, Mansfield, along with the other 13 State-owned universities in Pennsylvania, distinguished themselves from other higher learning institutions in Pennsylvania by freezing in-state tuition for the third year in a row. The school had lowered tuition and residence costs before the commencement of the 2019-2020 school year, so the freeze for the 2021-2022 academic year meant it charged some of the lowest tuition rates in the state.
On the weekend after August 20, first-year students moved into the school’s on-campus residence halls and participated in opening weekend activities. These transitioned them to their new lives on campus while assimilating them with returning students.
Mansfield’s residence halls are some of the best in the country, ranking among the top 10 out of over 1,300 in Niche.com’s 2022 list of Best College Dorms in America. Mansfield ranked number 10 nationally and number two in Pennsylvania, highlighting the exceptionality of the school’s accommodation offerings. The school’s residence halls have five different styles of living units which feature air conditioning, refrigerators, individual bathrooms, microwaves, and high-speed internet. The buildings have laundry facilities, study lounges, kitchens, and game rooms. The buildings also feature one-card security access and have a full-time live-in staff member.
After an extensive opening week at Mansfield, classes officially started on Monday, August 23, 2021. This marked a return to full in-person courses, which had been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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