UA students navigate campus on the first day of classes last week.
Courtesy photo
Another year, and another record number of students are attending the University of Arkansas.
According to preliminary numbers, enrollment at the UA will exceed 27,000 students in 2016. That includes 5,022 students in the freshmen class, the largest class in the history of the UA.
University of Arkansas enrollment has increased by more than 50 percent in the last 10 years. The school counted 17,821 students in 2006.
Enrollment grew by roughly 1% over last year, slightly lower that the 2% enrollment growth reported in 2015.
UA officials say the total number of students from the state of Arkansas is also up slightly this year, with 15,166 students from the state currently registered, including 2,466 Arkansans in the freshman class, up from 2,432 last year. Increasing the number of students from the home state has been a focus, UA officials said.
“The university made a concerted effort to increase the number of Arkansas students in this freshman class,” said Suzanne McCray, vice provost for enrollment and dean of admissions. “We did this while enhancing the academic quality of this class, which comes to the university with a record overall highschool grade point average of 3.68, and an ACT score average of 26.3.”
Chancellor Joe Steinmetz has said his recruitment goal is to maintain a roughly 50/50 split between in-state and out-of-state students.
Enrollment numbers for the semester will be official on Sept. 6, after the 11th day of classes are complete.
