MORE than 15,000 students enrolled in the Mariano Marcos State University for the first semester of Academic Year 2020-2021.

MMSU said 13,344 registered for undergraduate degree programs, 734 for advanced or graduate studies, 38 for short-term programs, 557 in the secondary level, 269 in the elementary level and 62 in pre-school.

“In the undergraduate programs, 3,871 are first year students, 3,288 are second year, 3,358 are third year, 2,802 are fourth year, and 25 are fifth year students,” the university said.

In the undergraduate courses, the College of Teacher Education has the biggest number of enrollees with 2,567, followed by the College of Engineering with 2,450, and College of Business, Economics, and Accountancy, 2,349.

Meanwhile, 734 students enrolled for advanced studies, 569 for the Graduate School, 101 for the College of Medicine, and 64 for the College of Law.

“The Laboratory Elementary School now has 269 enrollees, 16 of them are in the Batac campus, while 253 are in Laoag campus,” MMSU said.

“There are 557 students in the Laboratory High School, 195 of them are in Batac campus, while 362 are in Laoag campus. The University’s pre-school department in Laoag City has recorded a total of 62 enrollees this year,” it added.

University President Shirley Agrupis lauded the students for their “strong resolve” in pursuing higher education amid the pandemic.

“The only way to win against this pandemic – and avert others from happening in the future – is to arm ourselves with the right knowledge, the right skills, and the right attitudes to succeed in this volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world,” Argupis said.

“Worry not, because we are here to provide you all the support and the resources, the best we can for your future,” she added.