KU freshman enrollment goes up for fifth straight year

University officials tout academic achievement, diversity of freshman class

photo by: Nick Krug

University of Kansas freshman Gabriella Roth, Junction City, raises her hand during a University 101 class discussion on academic and personal wellness on the lawn outside Stauffer-Flint Hall on Monday, Sept. 26, 2016.

Enrollment at the University of Kansas went up this year, boosted by the university’s fifth-straight year of freshman class growth, according to numbers released Monday by KU.

KU leaders touted not only the freshman class’ size but also its academic achievement and diversity, especially in light of the university’s new — and tougher — automatic admission standards that went into effect this semester.

KU is one of only two state universities where enrollment increased this year.

Fort Hays State University enrollment went up 3.2 percent, according to numbers released Monday by the Kansas Board of Regents. Enrollment went down at Kansas State, Wichita State, Pittsburg State and Emporia State universities.

Enrollment across all KU’s campuses grew from 28,091 in fall 2015 to 28,401 this fall, an increase of 1.1 percent, according to data provided by KU. It’s the third straight year KU’s overall enrollment has grown.

KU’s 2016 freshman class numbers 4,233, an increase of 1.1 percent from last year, according to KU. It’s KU’s fourth-largest class in history and the largest since 2008.

photo by: Nick Krug

University of Kansas freshman Gabriella Roth, Junction City, raises her hand during a University 101 class discussion on academic and personal wellness on the lawn outside Stauffer-Flint Hall on Monday, Sept. 26, 2016.

Fall 2016 enrollment by university

The following headcounts are for students enrolled on the 20th day of fall classes, and include online students.

University of Kansas overall — 28,401 (up 1.1 percent from 2015)

KU Lawrence campus — 24,892 (up 0.7 percent)

KU Medical Center — 3,509 (up 3.7 percent)

Kansas State — 23,779 (down 1.5 percent)

Fort Hays State — 14,658 (up 3.2 percent)

Wichita State — 14,474 (down 0.1 percent)

Pittsburg State — 7,102 (down 2 percent)

Emporia State — 5,887 (down 3.4 percent)

State university total enrollment — 94,301 (up 0.02 percent)

Source: Kansas Board of Regents

“This is a banner freshman class for KU,” Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little said in a Monday message to campus. “To increase in both size and quality is a tremendous accomplishment. And a fifth straight year of freshman class growth — especially in the context of enrollment trends at other universities in the region — is a clear sign we’re doing a lot of things right in the minds of prospective students.”

Gray-Little credited “purposeful, strategic decisions in how we identify, attract, fund and enroll students at KU.”

Those include higher standards for automatic admission, increased national and international recruitment efforts, a revamp of KU’s financial aid to include four-year renewable scholarships and implementation of the KU Core Curriculum, which was designed specifically to include opportunities such as undergraduate research, internships and study abroad.

The chancellor also highlighted the importance of increasing diversity at KU, an issue that got a lot of attention last year and continues to this school year, both at KU and other universities nationwide.

KU’s incoming freshmen have an average ACT score of 25.7 and an average GPA of 3.58, both record highs for the university, according to KU’s announcement.

The freshman class is KU’s second-most diverse, according to KU.

Of new freshmen, 22.9 percent self-identified as minorities, a slight increase from 22.3 percent last year, according to data provided by KU. The freshman class has 9.2 percent more Hispanic students and 1.7 percent more black students than last year’s freshman class, according to the data.

Universitywide, KU’s minority enrollment increased 3.9 percent this year, according to the data. In total, 19.8 percent of KU students are now minorities.

That’s the highest percentage in the school’s history, according to a KU news release.

“A diverse student body is crucial to the campus environment at KU,” Gray-Little said in the release. “To truly be a robust community of scholars, it’s essential that we recruit students with diverse backgrounds, opinions and perspectives. Today’s data show we continue to make gains in this area.”

Other enrollment figures of note:

• Graduate student enrollment is up 3.3 percent, according to KU’s release.

• KU Medical Center’s enrollment of 3,509 is its highest on record, according to KU’s release.

• Foreign student enrollment — based on citizenship status and counted in a separate category from minorities — is down, according to KU’s data.

“Nonresident alien” enrollment went down from 289 freshmen in fall 2015 to 196 this fall, a decrease of 32.2 percent, according to the data. Universitywide, international enrollment went down from 2,538 in fall 2014 to 2,450 this fall, a decrease of 3.5 percent.