Baylor's Fall Enrollment Includes Record-Setting Freshman Class

Baylor University has enrolled the largest, most accomplished and most diverse freshman class in the university's history, according to official 12th day enrollment statistics compiled by the Office of Institutional Research and Testing.

Baylor's freshman class of 3,168 students surpassed last fall's freshman enrollment by 383 students and bested the previous record freshman enrollment of 2,938, which was set in fall 1998. In addition, the Class of 2009 continues an upward trend for academic quality, with this year's freshmen entering the university with an average SAT of 1196, compared with last year's record 1190. Baylor's freshman minority enrollment increased slightly to a record 30.6 percent.

Baylor also had a record number of applications for the fall 2005 freshman class - 15,485 - yielding an acceptance rate of 65.7 percent, compared to 72.4 percent last year.

This year's total university enrollment stands at 13,975, an increase of 176 students from last fall's enrollment of 13,799.

Overall Baylor has enrolled 11,825 undergraduates; 1,214 graduate students; 432 in the School of Law; and 385 students in George W. Truett Theological Seminary. At the U.S. Army Academy of Health Sciences in San Antonio, where Baylor has graduate programs in healthcare administration and physical therapy, 111 students are enrolled. In addition, eight students are enrolled in the doctor of science in physical therapy (DScPT) program at West Point, another degree program operated jointly by Baylor and the U.S. Army.

Baylor returned 8,178 undergraduate students this fall, down slightly from last year's 8,328 returning undergraduate students. The retention rate for the 2004 freshman class is 83.2 percent, compared with 82.2 percent for the fall 2003 entering class.

This year's provisional freshman enrollment is 279 students or 8.8 percent of the class, a decrease from fall 2004's 9.4 percent.