Edward Waters University (EWU), Florida’s first Historically Black College and University (HBCU), recorded its highest fall enrollment in more than two decades after Fall 2026 registration closed.
Amid a historic period of institutional growth, expanded academic offerings, and continued investment in the student experience, EWU welcomed 1,281 students as registration closed on Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, according to a university news release.
EWU welcomed 674 new students for Fall 2026, 90 more than the previous year and a 15.4% year-over-year jump. The incoming class included 287 first-time college freshmen, representing a 7.5% year-over-year increase.
The University also experienced significant growth among transfer students. A total of 209 transfers joined EWU in Fall 2026, marking a 34.8% increase from the previous year.
As for graduate enrollment, EWU welcomed 119 new students, marking a 14.4% increase from Fall 2025.
“Edward Waters University is no longer a story about potential. It is a story about performance,” President and CEO Dr. A. Zachary Faison, Jr. said in a statement. “In a national higher education environment that has been unforgiving to institutions of our size and type, this University has grown, and grown again. That does not happen by accident, and it does not happen because of any one person. It happens because a community of extraordinary professionals decided that our students were worth an extraordinary effort.”
Edward Waters University Was Intentional About Enrollment Growth
More than 13,000 prospective students applied to EWU for the 2026-2027 academic year, the news release states.
Faison emphasized that EWU’s growth did not come from easier market conditions, but from the University’s intentional efforts to strengthen the institution. Efforts included increasing enrollment and its endowment, maintaining a balanced budget each year, and completing its decennial reaffirmation of accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges in December 2025.
Since 2019, the University has grown enrollment by 37% while posting six straight years of operating surpluses. During that period, EWU also expanded its endowment from $2.8 million to $8.6 million, representing an increase of more than 200%, per the news release.
EWU’s Fall 2026 enrollment represents a 5.4% increase from Fall 2025 and a 37.4% jump from the 932 students enrolled in Fall 2019. The latest figures also put the University just 39 students shy of its all-time enrollment record, which Faison said EWU intends not only to reach, but surpass.
“We are growing because students and families are choosing us,” Faison said. “Every number in this release represents a young person who decided that this institution, founded in 1866 by and for the formerly enslaved, was where their future would begin. That is a trust we do not take lightly, and it is one we intend to keep earning.”
Record Enrollment At EWU Comes Amid Renewed HBCU Interest
The milestone comes as HBCU enrollment rises, including among Black male students, amid broader uncertainty in higher education fueled by demographic shifts, financial pressures, and an uncertain job market.
As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Black students are enrolling at HBCUs at historic rates as the higher education landscape continues to shift, including through the rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision ending race-conscious admissions practices.
Kendrick T. Dunklin, vice president for Enrollment Management and Strategic Matriculant Services, credited EWU’s milestone to its collaborative efforts, noting that teams across Admissions, Financial Aid, Student Accounts, and the Registrar’s Office worked daily through the close of registration to connect with students by phone, email, and text.
He also highlighted the cross-functional support of Academic Affairs, Student Success, Athletics, the University’s Band and Choir programs, and other colleagues across campus who contributed to the enrollment efforts.
“This outcome belongs to a team that refused to let a single student fall through the cracks,” Dunklin said. “When a student ran into a barrier, somebody here picked up the phone and worked it until it was solved. That is what produced this number, and I could not be prouder.”
