Freshman class continues upward trend

More than 3,200 freshmen, and another 12,000 returning undergraduates, arrived at the Storrs campus this weekend.

For the 11th consecutive year, UConn's entering class exhibits the academic success that has made UConn the top public university in New England and among the best public universities in the nation.

The Class of 2010 is projected to average 1195 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), a six-point increase compared to last year's entering class and an impressive 82 points higher than the class that entered in 1996, when the SAT was recentered.

The class also includes more than 100 valedictorians and salutatorians; and minorities represent 20 percent of the class. Thirty-eight percent of the students were ranked in the top 10 percent of their graduating class.

Applications also increased for the 11th straight year, up 6.4 percent compared to last year, at nearly 21,000, a more than 100 percent increase from 1995.

And, for the fourth consecutive year, the number of applications from out-of-state residents topped the number of applications from Connecticut high schoolers.

With the number of out-of-state students admitted limited to 30 percent, those applicants have only about a one-in-10 chance of admission.

To help handle the increasing enrollment, more than 30 additional faculty have been hired, in addition to those hired to fill vacant, existing, positions.

The regional campuses also are attracting large numbers of students, with more than 1,100 freshmen enrolling at the five campuses, and another 200 students transferring into the regionals, largely from four-year schools, says Dolan Evanovich, vice provost for enrollment management.