Kansas University has set a record for fall enrollment, university officials announced Thursday.

There are 29,590 students enrolled at the university, up 1.1 percent from fall 2003. KU also set a record for student retention and saw increases in minority numbers.

“It looks outstanding,” said Lisa Pinamonti, director of admissions and scholarships. “We’re very excited about another increase in students of color and in retention. We’re going to build with those increases.”

The enrollment figures include 26,980 students on the Lawrence and Edwards campuses, an increase of 0.6 percent, and 2,610 students on the Medical Center campuses, or an increase of 6.2 percent from a year ago.

There are 4,269 first-time freshmen at KU, an increase of 5 percent. Nonresident freshmen increased 12.2 percent and minority freshmen increased 9.6 percent.

Overall, minority student numbers increased 4.2 percent compared to 2003, including a 22.4 percent increase among black freshmen and 20 percent increase among Hispanic freshmen.

“You can always do more,” said Robert Page, director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs. “But we’re heading in the right direction.”

Page attributed the success to better communication between offices such as the Freshman-Sophomore Advising Center, Office of Admissions and Scholarships and the Writing Center.

Overall, KU’s retention rate for students between their freshman and sophomore years increased from 81.8 percent in 2003 to 83 percent this fall, the highest on record at KU, officials said.

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“It’s not only that we’re recruiting new students,” Page said, “but we’re retaining them and they’re graduating.”

Pinamonti said the freshman class also was better prepared for college. She said the average freshman ACT score, a predictor of college success, had increased from 24.08 in 2003 to 24.27 this fall.

At the Medical Center, spokesman Dennis McCulloch said the 6.2 percent increase was driven by expansion in the School of Allied Health, graduate nursing program and the joint M.D. and Ph.D. program.

“I think people are seeing health care as a growing industry with an aging population,” he said.

Overall, Chancellor Robert Hemenway said, the enrollment figures showed continued success at KU, and signaled that recent tuition increases hadn’t deterred students from attending the university.

“What this tells us is students are voting with their feet,” Hemenway said. “They’re seeing KU as a good value.”