Mercer University set an enrollment record by teaching 8,336 students this fall, according to data released Thursday. That's an increase of 1.2 percent over 2010.

This is the third consecutive year the college is teaching more than 8,000 students.

Mercer is based in Macon and has large sites in Atlanta and Savannah. Officials credited the growth to new and expanded degree programs, with the largest increases found in business, economics and health sciences.

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A migrant farmworker harvests Vidalia onions at a farm in Collins, in 2011. A coalition of farmworkers, including one based in Georgia, filed suit last month in federal court arguing that cuts to H-2A wages will trigger a cut in the pay and standard of living of U.S. agricultural workers. (Bita Honarvar/AJC)

Credit: Bita Honarvar