UT Dallas student enrollment continues to break records, and the academic bar set by those new students has continued to rise, according to preliminary fall semester figures.
An enrollment tally of 19,727 includes 5,549 new students, or about 28 percent of the student body, according to the Office of Strategic Planning and Analysis (OSPA). This includes 1,545 first-time-in-college freshmen (who posted an average SAT score of 1270), 1,669 transfers and 2,306 new graduate students.
The freshman class brings the highest average SAT score and the largest number of National Merit Scholars (63) in the University’s history, topping the 52 who arrived on campus in 2011. The scholars join 117 continuing National Merit winners, for a total of 180 on campus.
“Students who earn admission to UT Dallas find highly respected academic programs and outstanding faculty who are ready to work with them,” said President David E. Daniel. “We work to offer an experience that gives our graduates an edge in achieving their best in their careers and beyond.”
The preliminary numbers indicate that the student population has grown 4 percent since fall 2011 and more than 26 percent since 2005.
UT Dallas’ strategic plan calls for the student body to grow to between 25,000 and 30,000 by 2020, a steady rise expected to come at about 4 percent each year.
New students were welcomed to campus during a number of orientation sessions.
“We are on track to fulfilling a key goal of our strategic plan in terms of enrollment growth,” Daniel said. “Steady growth of 4-5 percent enables us to move forward on establishing UT Dallas among the nation’s leading research universities, while allowing us to make the infrastructure and personnel adjustments necessary to support an increasing student body.”
Dr. Lawrence Redlinger, executive director of OSPA, said preliminary enrollment figures indicate that UT Dallas is on a solid growth trajectory.
“The intent is to scale up the University to compete with the nation’s best small public research universities while strengthening quality in all aspects of its endeavors,” Redlinger said.
Other figures for fall 2012:
- 61 percent of students are undergraduates, 39 percent are graduate students.
- 73 percent are full-time students, 27 percent are part-time.
- The retention rate for freshmen — those who returned from fall 2011 — is 84.5 percent.
- 56 percent of students are male, 44 percent are female.
- The oldest student is 82, the youngest, 16.