Incoming students are most academically prepared in history

A recently released profile of the students in the Institute of Technology's fall 2009 freshman class shows that the incoming students are better prepared academically than ever before. The current freshman class is also the largest incoming class in history with 875 student compared to 821 students last year and 756 students just 10 years ago.

The average ACT composite score of incoming Institute of Technology students increased from 28.9 last year to 29.6 in fall 2009, the highest of any college at the University and the highest ever in the college. This is two full points higher than the 27.6 ACT score average 10 years ago. Institute of Technology first-year students had an average SAT score of 1319, also the highest of any college at the University. About 68 percent of the 2009 Institute of Technology freshman class graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school class, compared to about 63 percent last year and 43 percent this year University-wide. Of the University's 112 freshmen National Merit Scholars, 64 are from the Institute of Technology, the largest number of National Merit students of any freshman admitting college.

The number of women first-year students also has reached an all-time high with 203. Last year, the college had 200 women first-year students and 10 years ago the college had just 139 women first-year students.

To find out more about new students at the University, visit the University of Minnesota's Office of Institutional Research Web site.

November 12, 2009