Paid enrollment deposits for new freshmen at the University of Colorado at Boulder this fall indicate that the campus can likely expect another large freshman class in the fall of 2007.
Early numbers show the class will be between 5,500 and 5,600 students. The campus enrolled 5,617 new freshmen in fall 2006, its largest freshman class ever. Final enrollment figures for fall 2007 will not be available until mid-September, about a week after the official campus census date of Sept. 14.
As of Aug. 3, CU-Boulder had received 19,817 applications, a 9 percent increase over last yearÂ’s total of 18,129 at the same point in the admissions cycle. The gain has enabled the admissions process to be more selective, with 80 percent of out-of-state and 84 percent of Colorado applicants offered admission, compared to 87 percent and 90 percent, respectively, in 2006. Just under 3,000 of the total applications were from ethnic minorities, an increase of 3 percent over 2006.
“I believe these numbers bode well for the fall,” said CU-Boulder Chancellor G.P. “Bud” Peterson. “They show a university that is focused on providing an outstanding and affordable education to an increasingly qualified and diverse group of students in an effort to maintain Colorado’s competitiveness nationally and globally.”
Peterson said CU’s substantial investment in expanding its institutional financial aid – which the university recently announced at the CU Board of Regents’ annual budget meeting – is intended to improve the campus’s accessibility for a wide range of Colorado families.
“We are increasing our institutional financial aid by more than 50 percent,” Peterson said. “This will allow students from all across the state to be able to attend one of the best universities in the nation and the finest university in the Rocky Mountain region.”
As of Aug. 3, a total of 5,977 admitted students had paid enrollment deposits, a very slight increase of less than 1 percent from the same time last year, which had the largest freshman class on record. Paid deposits, also known as confirmations, are not the same as enrollment – some students who pay deposits decide not to enroll each year – but confirmations can be used to track trends from year-to-year.
Last year at a similar point in time 5,943 students had confirmed.
The confirmed freshmen have stronger academic preparation credentials than freshmen who were confirmed at this time last year. For confirmed freshmen, the average ACT composite is 25.7, compared to 25.3 in 2006; the average SAT total is 1170, compared to 1166; and the average high school grade-point average is 3.56, compared to 3.51.
CU-Boulder continues to enroll a class with diversity in geographic origin, ethnicity and gender, social and economic background. For example, nearly 1,200 confirmed freshmen come from families whose parents are not college graduates. Last year, 985 new freshmen were first-generation college students.
Minority students represent just over 15 percent of all confirmations in 2007, the same percentage as in 2006. The number of minority confirmations is slightly lower at 922 in 2007 compared to 940 in 2006. However, the number of African-American confirmed freshmen has increased, with 102 in 2007 compared to 82 at this time in 2006. Asian-Americans have increased from 397 to 398. Other minority numbers, for Hispanics and American Indians, have decreased slightly.
Women comprise 49 percent of freshmen confirmed for fall, up from 48 percent last year. The incoming class will be 57 percent to 60 percent Colorado residents. Confirmed freshmen from out-of-state represent 1,393 different high schools around the country, while those from Colorado are from 327 high schools.
In addition to the new freshmen, the campus expects to enroll between 1,200 and 1,300 new transfer students, a similar total to last yearÂ’s. The admissions and confirmation cycle for transfer students is different from and later than that for freshmen.