TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Enrollment at The University of Alabama is at an all-time high of 20,969 students this fall, with both the entering freshman class and new graduate students representing some of the largest and best qualified classes in UA history.

Total enrollment is up 3.1 percent, or 636 students, over fall 2003.

“We were able to produce an increase in enrollment while simultaneously increasing student quality,” said UA President Robert E. Witt. He noted that the typical freshman admitted to the University this fall was in the top quarter of his or her high school class and new graduate students had excellent undergraduate credentials.

The freshman class numbers 3,364, up 9.4 percent over last year and 26.8 percent over 2002. The class is the second largest freshman class in UA history and the largest in over 15 years. The class includes some 583 students who are enrolled in the Honors College – an increase of 35 percent from 2003. Some 94 National Merit, National Achievement and National Hispanic Scholars are members of the class, up from 50 last year. In addition, the class includes the first scholarship recipients under the National Alumni Association’s new Alumni Scholar Awards program, which provides scholarships to freshmen who are children or grandchildren of a UA graduate and who have scored a 25 or above on the ACT.

Graduate student enrollment, totaling 4,398, is up 5.2 percent since fall 2002. Dr. Ron Rogers, dean of the graduate school, reports that the new class of graduate students, on average, earned a 3.3 GPA on their undergraduate work and a 3.7 on previous graduate work. They scored an average 502 on the GRE-Verbal, a 604 on the GRE-Quantitative (including more than 20 who scored a perfect 800 on this section), and 584 on the GMAT.

“The class boasts two UA seniors who were named to last year’s USA Today Academic All-American team,” Rogers said.

Enrollment totals in UA schools and colleges for 2004 are as follows:

• Arts and Sciences – 6,637
• Commerce and Business Administration – 4,311
• Communication and Information Sciences – 1,955
• Community Health Sciences – 85
• Continuing Education – 88
• Education – 1,936
• Engineering – 1,857
• Human Environmental Sciences – 1,853
• Law – 557
• Nursing – 950
• Social Work – 404