The University of Minnesota welcomed its largest and perhaps smartest freshman class in decades to the Twin Cities campus this fall.
The 5,880 traditional freshmen were the most since 1970, officials told the Board of Regents on Thursday. The group carried a school-record average ACT score of 28.3.
The U also enrolled 2,300 transfer students, the most in seven years.
Regents have pressed the admissions office to enroll more students. This fall, however, that goal has bumped up against another priority: on-campus housing. Vice Provost Bob McMaster said the U was unable to secure housing for every freshman, which hurts those students’ chances of returning for a second year.
The U fielded more new freshman applications than ever — 49,128 — and admitted 43 percent of them. Of those admitted, 27 percent ended up enrolling.
A decade ago, 45 percent of admitted students enrolled at the U. McMaster said that as the U has attracted higher caliber high school graduates, it’s had to “work harder to land these students.”
MORE ABOUT THE U
- 22.3 percent of new freshmen are students of color
- 64.7 percent are Minnesota residents, including 16.6 percent from outside the metro
- The latest four-year graduation rate was 65.2 percent — up from 41.3 percent a decade ago
- 6.8 percent of last year’s freshmen did not return for a second year — down from 13.7 percent a decade ago
- 43 percent of the U’s 2016 graduates left school with no loan debt
- Of those who did graduate with debt, the average was $26,068, which is down for a fourth consecutive year after sharp increases