CHEYENNE -- Thanks to an influx of transfer students and another large freshman class, more than 12,500 students are attending University of Wyoming this fall -- a 3.6 percent jump from last year's enrollment.

Meanwhile, a slumping economy and the state-run Hathaway Scholarship program appear to have an increasing number of Wyoming high school graduates turning to the state's community colleges.

As of mid-September, 12,538 students were enrolled at UW -- 439 more than were enrolled at the same time last fall, the university announced Friday.

Of those, 10,330 attended the Laramie campus -- an increase of 331 students. UW Outreach School enrollment increased to 2,208 students, up 108 from last year.

University officials expect the final enrollment for fall semester to approach 13,000 when all Outreach School enrollment figures are tabulated.

The increase was driven in large part by an 11.6 percent jump in new transfer students, about a fourth of whom are Hathaway Scholarship recipients coming over from one of Wyoming's eight community colleges.

Since 2006, the state-funded scholarship program has awarded merit- and need-based scholarships to Wyoming high school students to attend UW or a community college.

But because of the current economic slowdown, many Hathaway Scholarship recipients who graduated with an associate's degree from a community college are enrolling at UW because they can't find a job, said Noah Buckley, the university's admissions director.

"The jobs just aren't there out in the workforce, so it's a good time for those students to continue on with their education," Buckley said. "That, in addition to the fact that they can capture on their Hathaway Scholarship if they're residents, makes it pretty appealing to just continue on with their schooling."

In addition, 1,595 new freshmen enrolled at UW this semester, 910 of whom are from Wyoming. While still a comparatively large class, this year's enrollment is down slightly from a record 1,697 new freshmen who enrolled last year.

Sara Axelson, UW's vice president of student affairs, believes that freshman enrollment has remained strong for two reasons: the Hathaway Scholarship program and an increased awareness about the university resulting from recent media publicity given to a variety of UW programs.

But while freshman enrollment at UW was down from last year, most of Wyoming's eight community colleges have seen significant jumps in new students this school year.

Many college officials said both the allure of Hathaway scholarships and job layoffs have contributed to the increases.

Central Wyoming College in Riverton has seen a 12 percent jump in enrollment this year compared to last year, said Jacque Burns, CWC's assistant dean for enrollment services. That comes on the heels of an 11 percent increase in 2008 from 2007, she said.

Many of the new students are people who were recently laid off by the area's energy industry and are looking to switch careers, Burns said.

"They're coming back to school to find careers that aren't so much tied into what's happening with the government," she said.

Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne has seen a 6.12 percent enrollment increase this year, said Lisa Murphy, director of public relations.

"They're a little bit higher than what we've seen in the past couple of years," Murphy said. She attributed the increase to Hathaway scholarships and increased interest in a number of LCCC programs, such as its wind energy program.

Enrollment at Northwest College in Powell is currently about 21 percent above what it was at the end of fall semester 2008, said registrar Brad Hammond. The school's new Trapper scholarship, as well as the economy, has helped increase enrollment this year, Hammond said.

Eastern Wyoming College in Torrington has seen enrollment increase of about 7 percent this year, said president Tom Armstrong. The college has had 5 to 7 percent enrollment increases during the past few years even as the number of area high school graduates has shrunk, he said.

"That says that there are other people coming back for retraining or updates," Armstrong said.

Enrollment at Gillette College and Sheridan College reached all-time highs this year after seeing increases of 23 percent and 11 percent, respectively, since last year, according to Sheridanmedia.com.

Casper College enrollment increased by 273 students this school year -- a 10 percent increase since last year.

Admissions officials at Gillette, Sheridan and Casper colleges were not available for comment Friday. Enrollment figures from Western Wyoming College in Rock Springs weren't available.

The increase in community college enrollment now means that UW will likely continue to see a large influx of new transfer students and graduate students in the next few years, Buckley said.

With the economy in a slump, he said, "Students are staying closer to home, keeping their part-time jobs, the costs are lower, they can live at home."

Contact capital bureau reporter Jeremy Pelzer at 307-632-1244 or jeremy.pelzer@trib.com