Last modified: Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Large class of first-year students at IU Bloomington sets marks for academic achievement
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 21, 2013
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- This year's first-year students at Indiana University Bloomington are the most academically accomplished on record, setting new marks for average SAT scores, grade-point average, class rank and other factors. They also are one of the biggest and most diverse classes ever to enroll at the Bloomington campus.
Some 7,611 new students are on track to be enrolled when classes start Monday, almost exactly matching the record set last year. With additional students still arriving, it's likely this year's freshman class will be largest ever. This marks the eighth consecutive year in which IU Bloomington fall enrollment of first-year students topped 7,000.
Indiana University student Ally Hunt, left, meets IU President Michael A. McRobbie and first lady Laurie Burns McRobbie in a lounge area of the new Rose Avenue Residence Hall.
Most first-year and some returning students moved into IU Bloomington residence halls this week, culminating in a mass entrance on Move-In Day today. IU President Michael A. McRobbie, first lady Laurie Burns McRobbie and Dean of Students Harold "Pete" Goldsmith greeted students and their families as they arrived. Provost and Executive Vice President Lauren Robel will preside today at Freshman Induction ceremonies at the IU Auditorium.
"We project this incoming class to break our records in size and, more importantly, to break records in academic achievement and overall diversity," said David Johnson, vice provost for enrollment management. "Test scores and GPAs are higher, there are more students who have Academic Honors Diplomas and are in the top 10 percent, and we have our largest group of Hutton Honors College students. We also have the most diverse class ever.
"IU has a great reputation in Indiana, in the U.S. and around the world," Johnson added. "That reputation was evident by the largest-ever, highly talented applicant pool. We were able to be more selective in admissions, and the result is Bloomington's brightest incoming class."
Tom O'Brien, left, gets help moving appliances to his daughter's room in McNutt Quad from his son Matthew, who is a senior at IU.
Entering students are projected to have an average score of 1215 on the combined mathematics and critical reading sections of the SAT college-entrance exam, surpassing the previous IU Bloomington record of 1203 set in 2009. (The average includes scores for students who took the ACT, converted to equivalent SAT scores.)
About 90 percent of Indiana residents in the class earned an Academic Honors Diploma. Of all first-year students, 34.5 percent were in the top 10 percent of their graduating class and 70.2 percent were in the top 25 percent. And 1,050 first-year students are enrolled in the Hutton Honors College, a 29 percent increase from last year. The median high school GPA for freshmen was 3.72.
The students come from across the state, with individuals from all 92 Indiana counties having been admitted this fall. The top regions for sending students to IU Bloomington, in order, are Hamilton County, Marion County, Lake County, Monroe County and Allen County.
The class comes from 41 states and the District of Colombia. After Indiana, states sending the largest numbers of first-year students are Illinois, New York, California, Ohio and New Jersey. Adding to campus diversity, first-year international students have enrolled from six continents and 33 countries.
U.S. minority enrollment is projected to increase by 4 percent among beginning students. First-year Hispanic students include the first set of twins to be named Wells Scholars, one of the most competitive and prestigious awards granted by any major U.S. university.
IU Bloomington classes begin Monday, Aug. 26. First-day enrollment figures will be available at that time, and official fall 2013 enrollment numbers will be compiled in early September.
