UA Enrollment Up; Increase Includes 8.6 Percent Growth in Freshman Class

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ­ Enrollment at The University of Alabama is up by more than 500 students from one year ago, with enrollment in the freshman class up by 8.6 percent.

UA’s total enrollment of 19,307 marks an increase of 532 students, or almost 3 percent over last year, and represents the University’s highest enrollment since 1994.

The number of entering freshmen is up 235 students from a year ago to 2,955, an increase of 8.6 percent. The class is the largest freshman class since UA adopted higher admissions standards in 1990.

“We are delighted that our enrollment is up by more than 500 students this year, even as the quality of our students continues to improve,” said UA President Andrew Sorensen.

“Once again, we have an excellent freshman class with ACT scores and high school GPAs well above state averages. We are pleased to be the university of choice for many of America’s top young scholars.”

Enrollment of African-American students also continues to grow. African-Americans this year represent 14.5 percent of the undergraduate student body and 13.6 percent of the overall student body. Some 14.9 percent of entering freshmen are African-American.

This year’s freshman class includes 94 National Merit, National Achievement and National Hispanic Scholars ­ an increase of 38 percent over last year.

The average ACT score of the entering class is 23.5 and the average high school grade point average is 3.39 on a 4.0 scale. Some 55 percent of freshmen were ranked in the top 25 percent of their high school class.

Enrollment totals in UA schools and colleges for 2000 are as follows:

Arts and Sciences – 6,570
Commerce and Business Administration – 4,174
Communication and Information Sciences – 1,901
Community Health Sciences – 79
Education – 1,348
Engineering – 1,872
Human Environmental Sciences – 1,325
Law – 531
Nursing – 445
Social Work – 337

Contact

Cathy Andreen, Director of Media Relations, (205) 348-8322