Paul Smith’s College Sustains New Student Enrollment Gains Amid Regional Enrollment Rate Drop

PAUL SMITHS, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 1, 2026--

As Paul Smith’s College prepares to receive 236 undergraduate students this fall, it today announced its new student enrollment has increased over 45% over three recruitment cycles, sustaining last year’s historic growth. The college welcomed this new class of Smitties with a Convocation address on Aug. 27 delivered by alumnus and founder of Fostering Minds, LLC, Dr. Antonius “Tony” Rivera, Ed.D., MBA, MS, AAS.

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Colleges across New York and the Northeast face a shrinking pool of traditional college-age students. WICHE projects the Northeast to lose 17% of its high school graduates, with New York declining 27% from 2023 to 2041. Against these challenging regional headwinds, Paul Smith’s College has sustained its recent enrollment gains, reflecting growing interest in an education that connects strong academics with hands-on learning, meaningful work and practical experience.

Classroom learning is only one part of the experience. Paul Smith’s College students build tiny homes, manage its sustainable forestlands and spend class time at the lake and in the woods. Incoming students have already committed to practical majors that will translate into in-demand fields, such as Natural Resources, Environmental Science and Hospitality.

“We are deeply grateful that so many students and families are choosing Paul Smith’s College. Sustaining last year’s enrollment gains suggests that our approach to education is resonating with what today’s students want from college: strong academics connected to practical experience, a sense of purpose and a clear path into meaningful work,” said Kathy Bonavist, Executive Vice President for Advancement & Enrollment. “This growth reflects the extraordinary commitment of our faculty and staff, who ensure that students are known, challenged and supported while learning through real responsibility. Whether our graduates become chefs, foresters, wildlife technicians, environmental policymakers or business owners, they leave Paul Smith’s prepared not only for their first job, but to adapt, contribute and lead throughout their lives.”

The college’s growth is also widening who gets access to a Paul Smith’s education. This past year, Paul Smith’s has made significant inroads through its Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) and TRiO program, which support students who may face financial, educational or other barriers to college. Thirty-four percent of this fall’s incoming class are first-generation college students. Dr. Rivera knows the impact of those pathways firsthand: He came to Paul Smith’s through HEOP and went on to earn his doctorate.

“An important lesson I took from my time at Paul Smith’s is that growth starts with understanding who students are and what they need to succeed,” said Dr. Rivera during his 2026 Convocation address. “I came to Paul Smith’s through HEOP, which gave me a bridge to an education I might not otherwise have had. But access is only the beginning. What makes Paul Smith’s different is what happens once students get here: They are known, challenged, supported and given the opportunity to learn by doing. That combination is what makes Paul Smith’s a place where students can discover what they can accomplish and who they are meant to be.”

For more information on Paul Smith’s College, please visit paulsmiths.edu.

About Paul Smith’s College

At Paul Smith’s College, it’s about the experience. As the only four-year college located in the Adirondack Park in upstate New York, Paul Smith’s provides real-world, hands-on learning in fields such as business and hospitality, culinary management, forestry, environmental sciences and natural resources. We are able to draw on industries and resources available in our own backyard while preparing students for successful careers anywhere. Our community of resourceful, enterprising, supportive and adventurous individuals collectively provide experiential education, student support in the classroom and beyond and meaningful opportunities for our alumni. We pride ourselves on research and advocacy on issues that improve our planet and the lives of the people who inhabit it. Learn more at paulsmiths.edu.

Paul Smith’s College Sustains New Student Enrollment Gains Amid Regional Enrollment Rate Drop

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military says it’s striking targets in Iran as hostilities flare again after a month without military action.

U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that the strikes “follow recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region.”

On Sunday, the U.S. military said it struck rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded by launching missiles at U.S. sites in Jordan, which were intercepted, while United Arab Emirates said it stopped an Iranian drone over its waters.

President Donald Trump acknowledged Monday that more strikes might be necessary.

Trump asserted that the U.S. and Israeli bombardment has left Iran “a failed nation.” He said that much of its political leadership has been killed, Iran’s economy is staggered by surging inflation and its military devastated.

Still, Trump acknowledged that more strikes might be necessary.

“That doesn’t mean we won’t smack them,” Trump told reporters. “We’ll see what happens.”

The U.S. and Iran have been engaged in an intermittent war for more than six months, with the recent lull in fighting lasting a month. A return to open conflict would be dangerous for the region, where Iran has targeted U.S. military bases and infrastructure in Gulf countries since the war began.

Iranian state TV reported the sound of explosions in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas but did not provide details.

The renewed fighting also comes after Trump appeared to pivot last month toward punishing Iran economically with sanctions, with the president promising an “economic D-Day” against a country that has withstood nearly five decades of punishing American sanctions.

The Trump administration argued that it was only a matter of time and that striking the right economic target would get Tehran to its breaking point. But at the same time, U.S. stockpiles of advanced weapons have been diminishing, while the war has been unpopular among Americans and could make Republicans vulnerable in November’s midterm elections.

The U.S. military has tried to cast the renewed fighting as limited. Central Command said in a statement on X on Monday that its attacks on Iranian targets on Sunday were narrowly focused on preventing IRGC forces from placing new mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

“U.S. forces took limited, precise action against IRGC minelaying forces posing an imminent threat in the Strait of Hormuz,” Central Command stated. “In essence, Iran created the threat and the U.S. military eliminated it to protect civilian mariners, commercial shipping, and the free flow of global commerce.”

Central Command reiterated on Tuesday that its attacks only followed Iranian aggression against commercial vessels and American troops in the region.

Cars and residential buildings damaged in a U.S.-Israeli strike on March 8 remain in ruins in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

FILE - A small boat sails past cargo ships and other commercial vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP, File)

President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)