SLU Census Figures for this Fall are Finalized

The undergraduate enrollment picture for the fall semester is very positive. The University experienced gains on most of the important indicators -- applications, selectivity, test scores, retention and graduation rates --used to evaluate progress in this area.

There are 6,889 undergraduates enrolled this fall, an increase of 3.6 percent over last year's enrollment of 6,648. This phenomenon is the result of another large freshman class, strong transfer enrollment and two new undergraduate retention records. The latest freshman-to-sophomore retention ratio is 87.4 percent, and 79.54percent of the 1997 cohort continued to persist two years after their freshman year.

The freshman applicant pool reached an all-time high and increased 6 percent to 4,991 applicants.

The University also improved its selectivity, admitting only 69 percent of this pool. The yield of 37 percent of the admitted pool produced a freshman class of 1,274. Moreover, the class average ACT composite score increased to 25.7 and is 4.7 points above the national average.

The University also experienced a 10 percent increase in new transfer students with 523 enrolling this fall. Transfer students continue to be an important source of new students in the School of Professional Studies (93 transfers), School of Nursing (55 transfers), and College of Arts & Sciences (171transfers).

The five-year and six-year graduation rates are also at all-time highs, 64.7 percent and 65.2 percent, respectively . The colleges holding the highest six-year graduation rates include the School of Allied Health (82.2 percent), the School of Social Service (80.0 percent), the School of Business and Administration (70.6 percent) and the School of Nursing (70.2 percent).

Enrollment in graduate programs shows an increase in some programs and a decrease in others, resulting in an overall increase in the number of credit hours (2 percent) but a decrease in headcount (4 percent). The decrease in business is a result of planned reduction and redirection of resources. The professional programs show an increase in some programs and a decrease in others, resulting in an overall decrease of 4 percent in headcount.

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