Confirmed: Class of 2016 is UT’s Largest-Ever Freshman Class

By Jordan Schraeder in 40 Acres, Special on September 19, 2012 at 4:57 pm | No Comments

The numbers are in: with 8,092 entering freshmen this fall, UT has its largest-ever freshman class.

This afternoon, UT released preliminary enrollment data for the fall of 2012. (Final figures will be tallied in October.) The prediction the Alcalde ran in the magazine’s September|October issue for the number of entering freshmen, 7,952, actually fell 140 short of today’s report. That growth, says Vice Provost and Director of Admissions Kedra Ishop, has everything to do with recruiting.

“There was a great deal of effort by the colleges, schools, and admissions office, not only in recruiting but getting students to actually enroll,” Ishop says. “We focused on students who we had admitted. We invited students to campus and talked to them about the University.”

And, as Ishop said in our latest issue: “It worked. That’s the bottom line.”

In a post about the record-breaking class on his Tower Talk blog, President Bill Powers says that more resources, including advisors and orientation sessions, have been added to accommodate the influx of students. He also writes that the growth is a good sign for UT.

“While we continuously adjust our formulas to get the optimum yield for our campus, and while we must guard against unchecked growth,” Powers says, “greater demand for a UT-Austin education is a positive indicator—a sign that the University’s reputation is on the rise.

Other notable fall 2012 enrollment numbers:

• Total UT enrollment for this semester is 52,213—a 2.2 percent increase from last year and the second-largest in UT history
• Minority enrollment is up: Hispanics now account for 18.4 percent, up from 17.6; Asians, 15.2 percent, up from 15.1; and African Americans, 4.5 percent, same as last year. White student enrollment decreased from 51 to 49.8 percent.
• 74 percent of enrolled freshmen who attended Texas high schools were admitted under the Top 10 Percent Law. 67 percent of all entering freshmen, both in- and out-of-state, were admitted under the law.
• The average ACT score of entering freshmen was 28; SAT, 1842.
• At least 24 percent of first-time freshmen are first-generation college students.

To see more facts and figures about the Class of 2016, click here.

Photo by Marsha Miller.

Tags: bill powers, data, enrollment, Kedra Ishop, largest freshman class, Tower Talk