Incoming CSE students are most academically prepared in history
Freshman class is also the largest in history
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (11/15/2016)—A recently released profile of the students in the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering fall 2016 freshman class shows that the college continues to attract the best and brightest students. The current freshman class is also the largest incoming class in history with 1,084 students compared to 825 students just 10 years ago.
The average ACT composite score of incoming College of Science and Engineering students increased from 31.5 last year to 31.7 in fall 2016, the highest ever in the college. This is almost four points higher than the 27.8 average ACT score for incoming CSE students 10 years ago. The current Universitywide average ACT composite score this year is 28.3 compared to 25.2 a decade ago.
The College of Science and Engineering has 97 of the University’s 150 National Merit Finalists (almost 65 percent) while the college’s freshmen only make up about 18.4 percent of the incoming class on the Twin Cities campus. In addition, 99.8 percent of this year’s incoming first-year students graduated in the top 25 percent of their high school class.
“We are very pleased that we continue to attract top-notch students into our science, mathematics, and engineering programs,” said Paul Strykowski, College of Science and Engineering associate dean for undergraduate programs. “We think prospective students see that we value both classroom instruction and research to create a quality educational experience for undergraduate students.”
The overall number of applications for admission into the College of Science and Engineering has skyrocketed in recent years from about 2,500 applications in 2000 to nearly 14,000 for this year’s incoming class.
“We know that students today often apply to more schools, but we have seen a tremendous growth in the number of applications that we expect will eventually level off,” Strykowski said. “We’re not exactly sure why there has been such an increase in previous years, but we believe that our college’s outreach efforts to K-12 students are a contributing factor in attracting more students into our science and engineering programs.”
Overall, the College of Science and Engineering enrolled 5,424 undergraduate students (including 483 new transfer students) and 2,740 graduate students in fall 2016. The 2,153 total number of female undergraduate and graduate students in the college reached an all-time high at 26.2 percent. Just 10 years ago, only 17.9 percent of the student body was female.
The college granted 1,374 bachelor's degrees in 2015-16 (a 42% increase from 2008-09). The college also granted 544 master's degrees and 246 doctoral degrees in 2015-16.
For more information on the college’s enrollment, graduates, and other numbers, visit our CSE: By the numbers web page.