Enrollment figures
show planned drop

By Mark Luebker

Enrollment at MSU this year is 44,542, approximately 300 students more than MSU’s long-term planning target, but down 395 students from last year’s unusually high enrollment, according to figures released recently.

Demand for admission to MSU remains strong. The university received nearly 25,000 first-time undergraduate applications for the 2003-04 year. Using federal reporting standards that combine first-time summer and fall enrollments this fall’s incoming class numbers 6,849 students, compared to 6,949 last year.

According to data, the new class arrives especially well-informed and well-prepared, with an average high school GPA of 3.58, an increase from last year’s 3.55. In addition, ACT test scores increased from 24.2 to 24.5.

The students also have a wide array of real-life experiences, are technologically savvy and more likely than ever to have been involved in leadership activities and the arts.

The entering undergraduate class generally reflects the Michigan high school graduate population with respect to race/ethnicity and gender. As in previous years, the class is composed of approximately 89 percent Michigan residents. The proportion of female students to total enrollment remained relatively constant at 54 percent.

The class includes 1,303 minority students, or 18.9 percent of the class. This compares to 17.6 percent minority representation in the state’s 1999 high school graduating class, the most recent year for which data is available. Total minority enrollment at MSU is 16.7 percent of the student body, an increase of .3 percent from last year.

International undergraduate enrollment is 1,051 students, compared to 963 last year. Graduate international enrollment is 2,226, down slightly from last year’s 2,239.

Total enrollment in the Honors College reached a new record, with 2,574 students, an increase of more than 176 students or 7 percent over last fall.

The Eli Broad College of Business, the College of Natural Science and the College of Social Science have the largest enrollments, each with approximately the same enrollment of 5,850 students.

For additional information about MSU admissions, please visit the Web site at
admissions.msu.edu

Copyright 2001 Michigan State University Division of University Relations.