Personalized Classrooms Declining

Increasing enrollment affects class size

Classroom size is increasing—2016 has seen a 26%
increase in 100+ student classrooms from what it was
six years ago, most likely a result of the 12% increase
in undergrad enrollment. The most recent numbers
indicate undergraduates alone have 106 sections with
a hundred or more pupils.
However classrooms with 20-29 students still have
the most sections, and continue to increase by 14%.
This data therefore shows that even though
classrooms with a hundred or more students are the
most rapidly increasing, Miami has not completely
abandoned its creed to small, personalized classes (an
idea stressed to potential applicants). Nevertheless
this idea may require some thought in the near future
because all class sizes (excluding 50-99 students)
currently experience an increase in number of
sections from the 2011 count.

Increasing class size tied to enrollment

# of class sections by year
% change
Class size 2011 & 2016 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
100+ students +26% 78 96 91 96 94 106
20-29 students +14% 755 782 769 853 887 878

30-39 students +12% 386 419 415 394 426 437

10-19 students +10% 621 602 598 580 671 687
2-9 students +6% 136 124 109 145 176 144
40-49 students +5% 197 186 177 187 178 207
50-99 students -35% 195 182 202 196 168 144
Total undergraduate +12% 14,605 14,544 14,567 15,001 15,311 16,023
population

Source: Miami University Common Data Set 2011-2016, Office of Institutional Research
*The total undergraduate enrollment values listed are full-time students (both male and female) attending courses at the main Oxford campus.
*Class sections do not include labs

100+ student While this report does not suggest that the
swell of enrollment is the only factor causing

classrooms are up class sizes to increase, the fact that both

variables are on the steady incline raises the

26% from question of what future classes at Miami will

look like and what this bodes for instructors’

six years ago”

teaching methods.