Contact: Pam Horne, Admissions, (517) 355-6532, pamhorne@msu.edu; or Tom Oswald, University Relations, (517) 355-2281, oswald@msu.edu
10/26/2004
EAST LANSING, Mich. � With an unprecedented increase in its number of freshman students, Michigan State University�s official fall 2004 enrollment is 44,836, a slight increase of .7 percent, or 294 students more than last year.
The number of MSU freshmen is 7,412 � that�s 507 students more than last year, an increase of 7.3 percent.
�The unprecedented increase in first-time undergraduates affirms the desirability and value to potential students of an MSU education,� said Lou Anna K. Simon, MSU provost and president designate. �It also imposes additional instructional costs and underscores the need for increased state appropriation support for MSU programs.�
The increase resulted from a greater proportion of those admitted choosing to enroll. This happened despite a decrease in the number of applications.
�It�s becoming clear that the MSU applicants have done their research, are serious about their futures, and excited about the myriad opportunities available to them at Michigan State University,� said Pam Horne, MSU director of admissions.
The number of minority freshmen remains stable compared to last year, with small increases in the number of African American and Native American students. MSU continues to be particularly popular among African American students, enrolling 651 freshmen � the largest number of African American freshmen in the Big Ten and among the largest number in the country at a state flagship university.
MSU also continues to be a strong choice among Michigan students, with more than 88 percent of the new freshman class from Michigan.
In addition, 184 students in the new freshman class are international students, an increase of 30 over last year � a nearly 20 percent increase.
MSU continues to enroll students with a wide range of academic credentials, but has maintained a strong academic profile among its freshmen in recent years, with the middle 50 percent of the class having high school grade point averages of between 3.33 and 3.80 and ACT composite scores of 22-27.
Other enrollment highlights include:
- Among all MSU students � undergraduate, graduate and professional � 37,260 (83 percent) are from Michigan.
- 54 percent of MSU�s total student population is female.
- With 6,438 students, the College of Social Science is MSU�s largest college, followed by the College of Natural Science (6,229) and The Eli Broad College of Business (6,134).
- The MSU Honors College experienced a record enrollment of 2,699.