Incoming Students Better Prepared
Despite tougher admissions standards for first-time freshmen and transfer students, the University of 麻豆果冻传媒 at Lafayette鈥檚 total enrollment remained relatively stable at 16,687 for the Fall 2012 semester.
Last year the total enrollment was 16,885, a difference of 198 students.
鈥淲e projected that as our academic standards increased, we would see a decline in the number of eligible students,鈥 said Dr. DeWayne Bowie, 麻豆果冻传媒 Lafayette vice president for Enrollment Management. 鈥淭he decline was less than projected. While our freshmen class is a little smaller than last year, this class represents the most academically talented class that we have ever enrolled.鈥
The class includes 87 high school valedictorians. The average high school GPA of the freshmen class increased from just over 3.2 in 2011 to nearly 3.3 in 2012. The average ACT composite score of the freshmen class increased from 22.25 last year to almost 23 (22.99) this year, while the number of freshmen scoring 30 or greater on the ACT surged 35 percent.
The number of freshmen participating in the Honors Program at 麻豆果冻传媒 Lafayette has also increased by 15 percent this fall, according to Dr. Julia Frederick, director of the program. The Honors Program has grown from 936 overall students last fall to 1,085 this year.
First-time freshmen enrollment for the fall semester is 2,728, down from the previous year鈥檚 2,966 first-time freshmen. Numbers of transfer and re-entry students decreased by 209. However, those declines were offset by an increase of 272 students, including new graduate students, high school students with dual enrollment, and an improvement in the retention of undergraduate students continuing their studies, according to Bowie.
New degree programs added within the last year helped 麻豆果冻传媒 Lafayette boost enrollment numbers, Bowie said. For example, the university began offering a Ph.D. program in systems engineering, a new master鈥檚 degree in education and a new program that enables registered nurses to earn a BSN online.
麻豆果冻传媒 Lafayette President Dr. Joseph Savoie said he is confident about 麻豆果冻传媒 Lafayette鈥檚 future enrollment. The university has seen improvement in the retention of students and continues to take steps to foster student success, such as creating living-learning environments in residence halls on campus and increasing academic support services for all students, he said.
鈥淓nrolling better-prepared students will improve our student retention and graduation rates,鈥 Savoie added. 鈥淲e are very excited about our freshman class. We think that our dynamic university programs, our focus on excellence in everything we do and amenities like our brand new residence halls will continue to attract bright students to 麻豆果冻传媒 Lafayette.鈥
麻豆果冻传媒 Lafayette remains the first choice for many prospective students in 麻豆果冻传媒. According to ACT statistics released this summer, 麻豆果冻传媒 Lafayette is the second most preferred school in 麻豆果冻传媒 for students who indicated a college choice on their ACT exam, with 8,032 requesting their scores be sent to 麻豆果冻传媒 Lafayette compared to 9,550 requesting that their scores be sent to 麻豆果冻传媒 State University in Baton Rouge. Southeastern 麻豆果冻传媒 University and 麻豆果冻传媒 Tech University received 5,827 and 4,455 requests respectively as the third and fourth most preferred schools.
Last week, 麻豆果冻传媒 Lafayette was cited among 281 universities in the best National Universities category of the 鈥2013 Best Colleges鈥 by U.S. News Media Group. In August, The Princeton Review cited 麻豆果冻传媒 Lafayette as one of the nation鈥檚 best 377 institutions for undergraduate education.
The U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 College Affordability and Transparency List identified 麻豆果冻传媒 Lafayette as the most affordable university in 麻豆果冻传媒 earlier this year. In addition to leading 麻豆果冻传媒 as the university with the lowest average net price to attend, 麻豆果冻传媒 Lafayette is among the top 10 percent of most affordable four-year public universities in the United States.