For the second year in a row, LSU’s incoming freshman class is the largest in university history.
The record 6,126-student class is also the most diverse class in university history, according to a release. Although details about the class’s demographics were not provided, the university wrote: “In comparison to last year’s freshman class, the diversity of the incoming class has increased by more than 7%.”
The class surpasses last year’s record-breaking 5,809 freshmen enrolled, which topped the previous record set in 2012 of 5,725 students.
The increase comes on the heels of the university’s push to grow enrollment. Over the summer, administrators asked the Board of Supervisors for more flexibility in awarding some $31 million in need- and merit-based scholarships. At the time, Jose Aviles, LSU’s vice president of enrollment management, noted the university had a goal for 6,150 freshmen to be enrolled in the fall semester.
The class attracted the largest-ever applicant pool, with 23,615 applications received that showed notable spikes from both out-of-state and historically underrepresented students. It is also one of the most academically talented classes ever at LSU, with a mean GPA near 3.5 and a mean ACT score of 25.6, up from last year’s freshman composite ACT of 25.5.
Overall enrollment sits at 31,761. Read the full release.
