Montana State enrolls over 17,000 students and sets records for graduation and student retention

Montana State University has become the first university in the history of the state to enroll more than 17,000 students, while also seeing record four-year graduation rates and a record high rate of students staying in school to complete their degrees.

MSU's fall headcount is 17,144, an increase of 1% over last fall's total, which was itself a record at 16,978. Montana State is the largest university in the four-state region that includes Wyoming and the Dakotas.

The university welcomed 3,611 new, first-time college students this fall - among them are 1,497 Montana residents. Montana students...