OSU Welcomes Stellar Freshman Class; Reaches Out to Victims of Katrina

Wednesday, September 7, 2005

STILLWATER, Oklahoma -- Oklahoma State University’s Class of 2009, all 3,302 of them, has already shattered several academic records, according to OSU System CEO and President David J. Schmidly.

“Academically, this is one of the most exciting entering classes in years,” he said. “Our freshmen are well prepared and have earned numerous prestigious scholarships. We look forward to them accomplishing great things.”

Included in this year’s total enrollment are eight students who have enrolled or plan to enroll as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Tuition and fees for the fall are being waived for currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students who want to transfer to OSU from universities in New Orleans.

“Everyone in the Oklahoma State University community is shocked and saddened by the destruction and displacement caused by Hurricane Katrina,” said Schmidly. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of this terrible disaster, and we have taken several steps to assist them and their families as they struggle to continue with their educational goals.”

Total enrollment on the Stillwater campus has reached approximately 20,804 students, a slight drop from 20,978 a year ago due to fewer graduate students. OSU’s undergraduate enrollment is up by a few students to 17,457 students, while total graduate enrollment has dropped 5 percent. The drop is due primarily to the high number of students who graduated last year, including international students.

Across the OSU System – OSU-Stillwater, OSU-Okmulgee, OSU-Oklahoma City, OSU-Tulsa, and the OSU Center for Health Sciences in Tulsa, which includes the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine – enrollment numbers are not final due to different start dates. OSU’s system-wide enrollment last fall was 32,672.

At its main Stillwater campus, OSU’s freshman class arrived with impressive credentials, with more than half earning some form of merit-based scholarship.

“We continue to lead the state in number of valedictorians enrolling at OSU,” Schmidly said. “We’ve doubled our number of National Merit Scholars and our freshmen have qualified for many other academic scholarships.”

In all, 1,730, or 52 percent, of the freshman class, earned a merit-based scholarship. Of those, 468 had grade point averages of 4.0 or higher. More than one-fourth of OSU’s entering freshmen, 27.5 percent or 793 students, were ranked in the Top 10 percent of their high school class. Last year, 691 entering freshmen, or 23.9 percent, were in the top 10 percent of their high school class.

This freshman class was admitted under the first year of a three-year increase in admission standards at OSU, Schmidly said. This year the ACT score for admission was raised from 22 to 23.

“The average OSU freshman composite ACT score for this class is 24.6, which is the highest on record,” Schmidly said. “The average ACT is nearly a full point higher than 10 years ago and is another indication of the caliber of this year’s class.”

The number of Oklahoma high school graduates is the lowest in six years, contributing to a larger increase this year in out-of-state students. The number of Oklahoma freshmen admitted to OSU increased by 2 percent, while the number of freshmen entering from other states has increased 11 percent. In-state students make up 77 percent of this year’s freshman class, while 22 percent are out-of-state and 1 percent are international.

Here are highlights from this year’s freshman class:

An all-time high of 369 new freshmen actively participating in OSU’s Honors College. Admission is based on ACT composite scores of 27 or higher with a high school GPA of 3.75 or higher, and active status requires a minimum of six honors credit hours in the fall semester.
151 Regents Distinguished Four-Year Scholarship recipients
260 Regents Distinguished Freshman Scholarship recipients
56 automatic qualifiers as Academic Scholars by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education who receive an annual award of $5,500 in cash per academic year plus a full waiver of resident tuition
80 State Regents institutional nominees for an annual award of $2,800 in cash plus an OSU tuition waiver
380 non-resident freshmen qualified for scholarships based upon academic achievement

OSU saw increases in enrollment for Hispanic, Native American and African American students, with Hispanic students leading the way with a jump of 14.3 percent.

At this time, there are 1,532 total international students enrolled at OSU, down 250 students on the Stillwater campus primarily because of the graduation of students from the larger entering classes of pre-September 11, 2001.

“But it appears international enrollment is recovering somewhat after a drop in recent years,” Schmidly said. “New international student enrollment is up by 8.5 percent.”