For the first time since 1996 (I believe) enrollment at UT is down. It's a good thing, because we've been slightly overcrowded, especially with the recent Republican budget cuts. Here's the story:
Enrollment at The University of Texas at Austin dropped 1.6 percent, from 52,261 to 51,438 this fall, but the university remains the nation’s largest single-campus institution.
This fall’s enrollment includes 38,392 undergraduate, 11,553 graduate and 1,493 law students. The number of entering freshmen is 6,544, a decrease from last year’s record high of 7,935. Undergraduate transfers have decreased (from 2,137 to 1,644), as have new graduate students (from 3,474 to 3,337).
The nation’s second-largest campus, The Ohio State University, had an enrollment last fall of 49,676. Ohio State has not yet released its preliminary fall 2003 totals.
University-wide, the proportional representation increased for African Americans to 3.4 percent (from 3.2 percent in fall 2002), Hispanics to 12.7 percent (12.3 percent) and Asian Americans to 14.1 percent (13.9 percent). The proportional representation for all other groups remained stable or declined slightly. Undergraduate continuing student counts grew from 28,674 in fall 2002 to 29,287 this fall, while graduate continuing student counts increased from 7,433 to 8,034.
“A concerted effort has been made to reduce the number of incoming freshmen and transfer students to maintain a high quality undergraduate experience in light of budget constraints,” said Larry R. Faulkner, president of The University of Texas at Austin. “We are pleased that we have been able to attract and enroll a more diverse freshman class, and we continue to make progress in retaining undergraduate students at increasing rates.”
For the entering freshman class, the proportional representation increased for African Americans to 4.1 percent (up from 3.4 percent), Hispanics to 16.3 percent (14.3 percent) and foreign to 2.4 percent (2.0 percent). The proportional representation for all other entering freshman groups decreased.
The percentage of graduates from Texas high schools entering under HB 588, the top 10 percent law, was 70.5 percent this fall, significantly higher than last year’s figure of 54.3 percent. When all freshmen are considered, even those not eligible for admission under HB 588, 68.9 percent of entering freshmen were in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class, compared with 52.4 percent last fall.
