Topeka ? If Kansas University feels smaller and smarter, it is, but just slightly.

Kansas University’s fall enrollment fell, but the freshman class has the school’s highest average ACT score on record, officials reported Thursday.

The freshman class has an average ACT composite score of 24.6, slightly above the previous high of 24.5 by the 2001 class and above the national average of 21.7.

Kathleen McCluskey-Fawcett, senior vice provost for academic affairs, attributed KU’s improvement in the ACT average to a dedicated admissions office and increased scholarship funding to gifted applicants.

McCluskey-Fawcett also predicted the gains would transform into long-term benefits.

“In the long run, the higher the ACT score, the greater our four-year graduation rate will be, and the higher our freshman-to-sophomore retention rate will be,” McCluskey-Fawcett said. “ACT score is the best predictor of our students graduating in a timely fashion.”

Nearly a third of freshmen scored 27 or more out of a possible 36 points. Two students earned perfect scores, KU reported.

“Excellence attracts excellence, and that is what we see happening today all over KU,” Chancellor Robert Hemenway said in a prepared statement.

Meanwhile, overall enrollment at KU dropped by 11 students, from the record in 2005 of 29,624 to 29,613.

There are 26,773 students on the Lawrence campus, a decrease of 0.6 percent, and 2,840 students at KU Medical Center, a 5.6 percent increase and the highest enrollment ever there, exceeding the 2,735 from 1993.

Hemenway noted that minority enrollment at KU increased 2.3 percent to 12.2 percent, another record.

Though international enrollment remains lower than it was before 9/11, McCluskey-Fawcett said the university was working hard to close the gap.

The overall fall head count at the six Kansas Board of Regents universities was 89,506, which is 689 students or 0.8 percent more than last fall. Enrollment at the schools has increased 3.7 percent during the last five years.

State officials track enrollment on the 20th day of classes.