It’s official: the class of 2015 is the third-largest in the University’s history, missing the enrollment record by about 40 students.
This year’s incoming freshmen total 3,864 students. Last year 3,905 enrolled at the University, making the class of 2014 the largest in its history.
“We believe it was financial – when it came down to it, many students just couldn’t swing it,” said Alberto Colom, vice president for enrollment management. “Sixty fewer students attended the last two weeks of orientation than originally expected, so instead of breaking the record by 20, we were short 40.”
Representatives from the University released the 15-day numbers at a media briefing Tuesday afternoon. All state colleges and universities are required to report enrollment data to the state the 15th day after classes start.
Colom said he wasn’t disappointed by the nearly broken enrollment record, especially since the 15-day numbers indicated incoming freshmen broke several other University records.
As anticipated, the class is the most geographically and racially diverse group to enroll at the University. It also has higher average academic characteristics than most of the last decade, with an average high school GPA of 3.25 and composite ACT score of 22.
“These are good, quality students,” Colom said. “In any given year, to [break these records] individually would be good, but to do them as a grouping is a great way to show that BGSU is a strong institution.”
Gary Swegan, director of admissions, said he was “very pleased” by this year’s numbers as well.
He credits revamped recruitment strategies and the University’s focus on infrastructure as keys to the recent success.
“Only three classes in the history of the University have been over 3,700, all which have happened since 2004,” Swegan said. “Those huge classes have all been within 41 of each other, and this just happens to be the lowest of these three.”
Joseph Frizado, vice provost for academic operations and assessment, said he expects the 15-day numbers to stay fairly steady for the rest of the semester.
“There are always students who leave for personal and family reasons past the 15-day numbers, but that’s a fairly small number in a given semester,” Frizado said.
The University will again report its 15-day numbers at the beginning of the spring semester, he said.
