9/20/04 Katie Wilder, 334/844-9999 (wildeka@auburn.edu)

RECORD NUMBER OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS ENROLL IN AU'S '04 FRESHMAN CLASS

AUBURN - Auburn welcomed its largest minority freshman class in the university's history this fall. Minority enrollment of freshmen this semester is 495, a 10 percent increase from fall 2003.
Of that number, African-American students totaled 347, marking the largest African-American freshman class in AU's history and an 18 percent increase since last fall.

Total enrollment of minority students has continued to increase during the past five years. Fall enrollment represents a 14 percent increase of African-American students from 1999. AU's 1,710 African-American students now make up 7.5 percent of the student population, up from 6.8 percent five years ago.

Meanwhile, AU's Hispanic population, though still small at 310, is up 68 percent from five years ago.

The numbers represent the success of an ongoing effort to attract minority students to Auburn, said John Fletcher, assistant vice president for enrollment management in the Division of Student Affairs. AU significantly increased its scholarships, recruiting efforts and support services for minority students after making diversity enhancement a major priority in its five-year plan in 2000.

Overall enrollment was down 1 percent from last year to 22,928. Enrollment fluctuates slightly from year to year but has been on an upward trend since the end of World War II.

In addition to minority enrollment, this fall's freshman class set other records. This group of students reflects an increase in high school grade point average, posting an average of 3.55, the highest ever for an incoming freshman class. Also, the class recorded AU's second highest average ACT score at 24.3, down slightly from last year's record average of 24.4.

"We are extremely delighted with the class profile and we think these records are significant indicators of Auburn's success in recruiting and attracting a diverse and bright student body," Fletcher said.

AU exceeded its goal of enrolling 4,965 new students, a group comprised of new freshmen and new transfers. Enrollment in this area measured 4,981.

Other fall semester enrollment numbers include 18,896 undergraduates, down from 19,251 last year; 884 first-year professional (veterinary medicine and pharmacy) students, up from 797 last year; 3,148 graduate students, up from 3,104 last year; and 1,387 transfer students, up from 1,329 last year.

Of the 3,594 new students this fall, 2,178 are in-state students. This number is basically unchanged from last year's number of in-state freshmen. The number of freshmen from out of state decreased from 1,525 last year to 1,416 this year.

Enrollment numbers are released by AU's Office of Institutional Research and Assessment.

Auburn University is a comprehensive research institution with more than 23,000 students and 6,500 faculty and staff. Ranked among the top 50 public universities nationally, Auburn is Alabama's largest educational institution, offering more than 230 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs.
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