UConn welcomes 6,000 new students, including ‘most diverse’ freshmen class ever

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University of Connecticut’s main campus in Storrs

The University of Connecticut announced Thursday that nearly 6,000 new students will attend the main campus in Storrs and the various branch campuses this fall, while officials hailed it as the most diverse in UConn history.

Students can begin moving into residence halls on the Storrs campus beginning Friday while the fall semester classes start next week.

Those new students include about 3,600 freshmen and 800 transfer students on the main campus, and another 1,400 freshmen and 200 transfers spread about branch campuses in Hartford, Stamford, Waterbury, Torrington and the Avery Point section of Groton.

“By all measures this year’s freshmen class is the most talented, diverse group we’ve ever welcomed, and those transferring here from other institutions have established strong foundations that will help them thrive at UConn,” university President Susan Herbst said.

The new Class of 2018 has an average Scholastic Aptitude Test score of 1234, surpassing last year’s entering class by one point.

More than one-third of the freshmen class, almost 34 percent, represents minority groups, topping the previous high of 27 percent.

And this year’s freshmen class features 505 students enrolling in the Honors Program, up from 456 last year.

“The size and talent of UConn’s applicant pool has helped to increasingly raise the university’s caliber in recent years, even as the number of high school seniors in the Northeast is on the decline,” said Nathan Fuerst, UConn’s director of undergraduate admissions.

UConn officials added that applications have more than doubled since 2001, when the university received 13,600. This past year more than 32,200 applications were received.

On the Storrs campus alone, enrollment has grown by more than 15 percent over the past decade.