The University of Hawaii at Manoa attracted its biggest freshman class ever this fall, helping reverse a five-year trend of declining total enrollment on the flagship campus.

The number of incoming freshmen soared 12.8 percent over last year to 2,209, the highest on record, according to the UH Institutional Research & Analysis Office. Overall, the 10-campus UH system saw enrollment slip by 1.2 percent from last year.

Jorel Fiesta, a Damien Memorial School graduate in the incoming class, said he chose Manoa because the price and location were right — and he’s happy that he did. He is paying about $2,000 a semester thanks to scholarship aid, and commuting from his home in Kalihi.

“I figured rather than taking out a loan and going to another school I might as well just stay,” said Fiesta, who is interested in the medical field. “The classes are amazing. I’m learning a lot of new things. It’s a whole different experience from high school.”

Ryan Yamaguchi, associate director of admissions at UH Manoa, said the school has made a concerted effort to connect with prospective students over the last year.

“We’ve increased the communication we have with students and parents, not only through brochures and so forth, but also a digital approach,” Yamaguchi said. “This includes emails that we sent to student and parents as well as our presence on social media platforms and the revamp of our website.”

Even with its bulging freshman class, UH Manoa’s total student population grew just slightly, by 0.6 percent, to 17,710 this fall, including graduate students.

More UH Manoa students are staying on track, rather than leaving school. The university has improved its on-time graduation rates. However, that shrinks the overall head count on campus since not as many students are requiring extra semesters to graduate.

Both UH campuses on Hawaii island were hit hard this fall, perhaps in part due to the volcanic eruption that started May 3 and kept flowing until this month. UH Hilo’s enrollment was down 3.8 percent and Hawaii Community College dropped 6.6 percent from last year.

Farrah-Marie Gomes, vice chancellor for student affairs at UH Hilo, said transfer students usually indicate their intent to enroll starting in May. This year the number of transfers committing to UH Hilo plunged 18 percent.

“We are cautious about attributing too much to the volcanic activity, but we do believe there was some impact,” Gomes said. “It was a very different downward pattern this year.”

The administration will soon hire its first, full-time dedicated transfer counselor to help students make the switch to UH Hilo. Applicants from out of state might have been scared off after seeing dramatic news coverage of lava fountains, without having the context of a local resident, Gomes said.

Overall, the community colleges continue to struggle in the tight labor market. They tend to lose students when the economy is booming and people can easily find jobs. That has been the case in Hawaii for the past several years.

Enrollment in UH community colleges grew rapidly during the Great Recession, from 25,890 in 2007 to 34,203 in 2010. But since 2010, it has dropped each year, to 26,819 this fall, a 2.3 percent decline from 2017.

Hawaii’s unemployment rate has been 2.1 or 2.0 percent each month this year.

Kauai Community College bucked the trend by logging a solid 10.4 percent increase in its student body over last year, the biggest change of any UH campus. It now has 1,486 students enrolled.

Chancellor Helen Cox points to two reasons for the hike: more high school students on Kauai taking Early College courses on their campuses and a concerted effort by her staff to make the transition to college smooth and simple.

“Our Early College program really grew,” Cox said. “We have close to 500 Early College students right now.”

“The second thing is that our new vice chancellor of student affairs, Margaret Sanchez, has done a terrific job of reaching out to our high school seniors and bringing them to the college early and often, and having them complete everything they need to do in order to be ready.”

The University of Hawaii West Oahu, which has won national recognition for its fast growth in recent years, lifted enrollment another 1.5 percent this year to 3,128 students.

UH Maui College’s student population fell by 6.4 percent, Windward by 2.0 percent, Leeward by 1.4 percent and Kapiolani Community College by 2.8 percent.

Honolulu Community College managed to stem its recent losses, slipping by just 0.6 percent, after taking big drops of 9.8 percent and 8.7 percent in the last two years.

By studying at UH Manoa, Fiesta figures he’ll be able to keep expanding the network of contacts he already has in the community.

“I just want to foster that and continue that to help build my career,” he said.

Enrollment data is available online at hawaii.edu/irao.