Enrollment Hits Target; Produces Near-record Freshman Class
Contact: Mary Alice Casey, (740) 593-1043
ATHENS, Ohio (September 19, 2000) -- Ohio University's residence hall computer initiative and better marketing to prospective students are major reasons for this fall's near- record freshman class, university officials say.
The university has enrolled 3,660 first-year students, up 211 from last year. However, the number of transfer students and students re-enrolling and relocating from regional campuses has decreased from 1,504 last year to 1,308, which puts the Athens campus at its enrollment target of about 19,000. The university had its largest freshman class in 1970, when 3,914 first-year students were enrolled.
"We think that the impact of the computers in the residence halls prompted more students to enroll," said Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Services Kip Howard. "The colleges worked really hard, sending out materials to prospective students and making them feel welcome to the university."
The university received 12,297 applications for enrollment from prospective freshmen -- the second-highest number ever. Of those, 9,449 were admitted. Based on enrollment numbers from previous years, the target for this year's freshman class was 3,449 students, Howard said. But the university saw a 38.7 percent freshman yield -- representing the percentage of admitted students who actually arrived on campus fall quarter -- instead of the 36.6 percent yield it has seen in the past two years.
That means more prospective students aren't just considering Ohio University; they're making it their first choice, said Provost Sharon Brehm.
"Ohio University is a truly student-centered university," Brehm said. "Our students receive a fine education in a university environment that is both personally caring and intellectually challenging. They made a good choice in coming here, and we made a good choice in inviting them to attend."
The freshman class profile is relatively consistent with past years. Fifty seven percent of the class is female, 90 percent are Ohioans and 17 percent were in the top 10 percent of their high school class. The composite ACT score is 23.7 and the composite SAT is 1106.
Within the freshman class, the number of African-American students increased from 113 last year to 125 this year, Hispanic students increased from 32 to 52, international students rose from 13 to 25, Asian-American students decreased slightly from 31 to 29 and Native-American students fell from seven to five.
The overall student population on the Athens campus this year is 16,143 undergraduates (up from 16,119), 2,534 graduate students (up from 2,470) and 415 College of Osteopathic Medicine students (down from 417), bringing the Athens campus total to 19,092 students.
The five regional campuses have 7,063 undergraduate and graduate students (down from 7,107). The breakdown for each campus is as follows: Chillicothe, 1,390; Eastern, 965; Lancaster, 1,515; Southern, 1,806; Zanesville, 1,387; and continuing education has 249.
The total enrollment for all Ohio University campuses is 26,404.
