UC Welcomes a Record Freshman Class, Booming Enrollment

As fall quarter gets underway on Sept. 19, the University of Cincinnati projects the highest one-year spike in enrollment since 1979. A record freshman class, more transfer students, solid graduate student enrollment and better retention rates are all factors.

Date: 9/12/2007 12:00:00 AM
By: Dawn Fuller
Phone: (513) 556-1823

Photos By: Dottie Stover

The University of Cincinnati is projecting a total enrollment of around 36,500 students as classes get underway on Sept. 19. That’s the largest number of students in 16 years and nearly 1,000 students over last year’s total enrollment of 35,527. The crowds mark the largest one-year increase in overall enrollment since 1979.

The projected 2007 class of 4,150 freshmen for the Uptown Campus is also a record, and there are record indicators of how well they’re for prepared college, a result of admissions standards aimed at improving retention and graduation rates as goals of the UC|21 Strategic Plan. The incoming freshmen hold the highest ACT score of any incoming freshman class (24.2) and hold the most Cincinnatus Scholarships (1,247) ever awarded to academically qualified freshmen. Among the freshmen are 71 valedictorians, 20 salutatorians and 29 National Merit Finalists. The freshman class includes 21 sets of twins and one set of triplets.

The crowds also exemplify that more students at UC are staying in college once they get here. Retention rates have increased from 77 percent in 2003 to 82 percent in 2007.

The University of Cincinnati is part of a national trend as more students make the university their living room, their den or their favorite Wi-Fi café. There’s a significant increase in the number of students taking distance-learning programs, up 10 percent from last year.

From a traffic and parking standpoint, things are expected to go smoothly when fall quarter begins, although one of the university’s major garages will be closing for renovation later in the fall quarter.

On-campus housing is at full capacity of 3,230 undergraduates moving into the residence halls. This fall, a new partnership virtually cuts the cord on the landline in the residence halls as students are provided with a free, pre-paid wireless phone – a partnership between the university’s information technology unit, UCit, and Cincinnati Bell.

New special-interest living quarters are building living and learning communities on and near campus, exemplifying UC|21 actions to build 24-hour-a-day learning, living and social environments. A new Peace Village opens on the fifth-floor of Dabney Hall for as many as 100 students who share an interest in promoting social justice. The UC Center for Community Engagement (CCE), now housed at the university-affiliated Stratford Heights Community on Clifton Avenue, invited students who shared an interest in volunteering to move onto two floors of suite-style housing located above the CCE office, which coordinates service opportunities in the community with students and faculty.

It’s time for UC’s solar house project to move on. The students are now getting ready to move the house to Washington, D.C., where hundreds of thousands will visit and tour it. The house will leave campus for Washington during a “Solar House Send-Off Ceremony” on Friday, Sept. 28.

For more information, see:

UC Begins Classes On Sept. 19 With Booming Enrollment and Record Freshman Class

UC Reports Significant Increase in Distance Learners

Smooth Opening Expected in Parking, Traffic for UC Students

Student Safety Continues to Be a High Priority Item in UC Planning

UC Mobile’s Moving Into the Residence Halls

As Students Move In, They'll Find Lots of Changes

VIDEO: Big Crowds Expected for Sunday Convocation

Welcome Week Events

As School Opens, Solar House Team Soon to Close Door on Prestigious Project