University Park, Pa. -- With more than 83,000 enrolled students, record numbers of minority students and current levels of applications exceeding the rate of last year's highest-ever total, Penn State remains one of the nation's most popular destinations for higher education.
More students are attending Penn State than any other university in the Northeast, according to official enrollment figures for the 2006-07 academic year. A total of 83,721 students are enrolled at 24 campuses, including 42,039 at University Park.
The official University enrollment figures represent a one-day snapshot of the student body, typically taken several weeks into the fall semester.
An unexpectedly large freshman acceptance rate for the 2006-2007 academic year brought enrollment levels at University Park to 39 above its enrollment target range of 40,000 to 42,000 students. Similarly, total enrollments at the 19 Commonwealth Campuses rose, a reflection of enrollment growth at nearly every campus.
"Penn State could well be the most popular university in the country," said Randall C. Deike, associate vice president for enrollment management and executive director for undergraduate admissions. "With record numbers of applicants and a significant increase in the percentage of admitted students accepting their offer of admission, prospective students and their families place a high value on a Penn State experience and a Penn State degree. The increases in enrollment across the University are even more significant as they come at a time when Pennsylvania is beginning to experience a decline in high school graduates, a trend expected to continue through 2015."
Demographic influences -- Pennsylvania is the nation's third-slowest in population growth -- and continuing public funding challenges that impact tuition rates also play significant roles in enrollment trends.
Minority students comprise a growing portion of Penn State's student body -- now at 13 percent. This year, the University enrolls a record 10,905 minority students -- the second time minority enrollment has risen above 10,000 and an increase of 8 percent over last year's total of 10,071 students.
African-Americans continue to comprise the largest ethnic group among minorities with a record 4,481 students -- a 10.9 percent increase over the 2005-06 enrollment of 4,039. Over the past decade, enrollment increases have reached more than 41.2 percent for minority students and 49.8 percent for African-Americans.
In 2003, Penn State President Graham B. Spanier acknowledged that changing demographic trends in Pennsylvania and a continuing erosion of state support of public higher education will create new challenges for the University in its recruitment of students over the next several years.
"Pennsylvania colleges and universities will face a new round of enrollment challenges after 2008, when the modern-day peak year for college-bound high school graduates will pass," said Spanier in his report, "The Challenges of Demography for Pennsylvania Higher Education." (See http://live.psu.edu/story/4032 for details.)
Despite the challenges, Penn State remains popular for students exploring their college choices. The past four years have successively set records for the largest application pools in Penn State history -- all yielding more than 50,000 undergraduate applications and over 60,000 this year. Total applications to the University for 2006 admission totaled more than 94,500. Currently, the pace of applications for 2007 admission to the University is up 13 percent over last year.
In addition, Penn State ranks third behind the University of Southern California and New York University as the most popular destination for automatic score submissions by students taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).
Detailed enrollment data is available at http://www.budget.psu.edu/FactBook/ online.