Colorado State Sees Record Enrollment Driven by a Large Freshman Class

Colorado State University is witnessing record enrollment in 2004, including one of the largest freshman classes in the school’s history, due in large part to continued success in student recruitment efforts.

In enrollment figures released today, Colorado State announced a total enrollment of 25,382, an increase of about 1.4 percent over last fall’s enrollment of 25,042.

"We are pleased that so many top-quality Colorado, national and international students are choosing Colorado State, and that our university’s efforts to recruit the best students and keep them on track to graduation are proving successful," said Larry Edward Penley, president of Colorado State.  "Colorado State’s top priority remains providing the highest quality education possible to our students, which is a large reason why we remain the school of choice for Colorado students."

First time freshman enrollment increased by 276 this year totaling 4,078 students. These entering students continue a trend of being better-qualified as measured by standardized test scores. The average index, which is a combination of standardized test scores and high school performance, is at 114.2 this year – the highest index score in the last decade. A record 482, or 11.8 percent, of the new freshmen have a very high index score of at least 128, up nearly 2 percent over last year.

Freshman minority student enrollment also increased this year, with 13.4 percent of the new resident students representing ethnically diverse populations, up from 11.9 percent last fall.

Overall undergraduate enrollment increased 371 students to 21,049. Colorado State’s minority student enrollment is approximately 12 percent of the total undergraduate population.

The number of continuing students, which is a measure of the university’s retention efforts, helped the institution post this year’s record enrollment figure. This success in retention has also led to a four-year graduation rate of more than 33 percent, one of the highest in state.

Last month, Colorado State was ranked among the best colleges in the nation by the U.S. News and World Report 2005 "America’s Best Colleges" edition. The university also recently ranked among the top in the nation for quality education and affordability by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, was listed in Princeton Review’s 2005 "The Best 357 Colleges" issue and was named in Kaplan’s 2004 Unofficial, Unbiased Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges.

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