At nearly 49,000 students, Utah Valley University already has the biggest enrollment of any public school in the state.

It’s equivalent to roughly the population of Saratoga Springs and about half the size of Provo. But new President Jon Anderson wants even more.

And he’s specifically looking to residents in Utah County who might be open to higher education as he sets his sights on growth.

“I believe, based on the numbers, we should be much larger than we are,” he said.

Anderson started in his new role in late August and sat down with The Salt Lake Tribune to talk about his priorities. The top item on his list, he said, is to make sure the Orem university is serving as many students as possible.

“We are there at the door ready,” he said.

Already, UVU is an open admissions institution, meaning there are no GPA or test-score requirements for admittance. That contributes to its huge enrollment for both standard college courses and concurrent enrollment classes for those in high school.

Last fall, the university saw a 4% increase in students, even as others are seeing enrollment strains, concerned about an impending cliff.

UVU has faced challenges outside of that, including the 2025 killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot in the campus courtyard.

It’s unclear if the shooting has steered students away, which has been a fear among faculty and school leaders. The latest enrollment numbers won’t be released until next month.

In his first weeks, Anderson has faced the tough task of trying to balance those wanting to memorialize Kirk on the anniversary of his death with students who want to move forward.

Already, he’s pushed to revamp the school’s safety assessments before large campus events, in order to better determine each event’s security needs.

He’s also met with law enforcement leaders from the surrounding community, including Orem and Provo police and the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, for better collaboration and backup in the event a major response is needed.

“We now have clear protocols in place that we can escalate safety and security within a matter of seconds,” Anderson said from an office overlooking the courtyard where Kirk was shot. “We know who they are; they know us. We know what our capacity is, and we know what their capacity is.”

Both of those steps follow criticism of how the school handled Kirk’s appearance. In a new legal claim, Kirk’s family also asserts the university failed to secure the open space where he spoke.

Since the shooting, the school has also instituted new active shooter trainings for students, staff and faculty.

“I think we’re much better prepared for an incident that I hope never happens again,” Anderson said.

At the same time, Anderson said he wants UVU to focus on its mission of learning. And for him, that means making learning as accessible as possible.

Utah County is expected to double in size by 2065, reaching a population of 1.5 million residents. But even now, he feels UVU isn’t serving the county as much as it could be.

“There are a lot of students, including adult learners and high school graduates, who aren’t continuing into higher education,” he said.

A college education can help increase household earnings and launch new careers, he said, and the school is open to anyone in transition in their life.

“There are a significant number in Utah County,” he continued. “I think we need to reach much deeper into those markets.”

In order to to that, he wants to analyze and better understand which demographics aren’t being served. For instance, he’d like to support more parents chart a path to a degree.

For him, it’s about realizing potential and removing barriers — not about getting more money, as some might think.

The state has historically funded public universities and colleges based on each year’s enrollment. But under a new funding model, enrollment averages over the course of five years are considered instead, as well as student performance.

The performance metric measures, among others things, “timely completion” (the percentage of students who graduate in six years) and “high-yield graduates” (the amount of students who land high-wage or high-demand jobs).

Anderson is focused on that, too. The second item on his to-do list is to make sure students are able to finish their degrees and have a “transformative education.”

That means learning how to be an engaged citizen, as well as getting experience in their chosen job field — which also aligns with the Legislature’s priorities.

He wants learners to “leave here different, prepared to serve in the communities and the occupations that they’re choosing,” he said.

He said he’s already been met by a school community that shares his vision.

“UVU has so many good days ahead,” he said, “and our most ambitious work is in the future.”