Fueled by nearly 50,000 applications for admission, fall 2014 undergraduate enrollment on the Ann Arbor campus grew by 112 to 28,395 students this fall, a 0.4 percent increase.

This includes an entering class of 6,505, which is 280 more first-year students than in 2013, a 4.5 percent increase.  For the eighth consecutive year, applications for the entering class set an all-time record:  49,776, which is 2,963 more than 2013, a 6.3 percent increase.

“The broad and enthusiastic interest in the University of Michigan is nearly unique in higher education,” said Kedra Ishop, associate vice president for enrollment management. “This is directly attributable to our faculty and current students, all of whom are among the best in the world.

“The substantial stature and achievements of our alumni demonstrate the sustained value of a University of Michigan education — a value that is obvious from the first day of classes and through a lifetime.”

Overall fall student enrollment on the Ann Arbor campus is 43,625, down by just 85 students — or 0.2 percent — from the previous year, according to the Office of the Registrar. The number of graduate and professional students decreased by 197 — or 1.3 percent — to 15,230 enrolled.

“The entering class of 2014 is truly outstanding,” said Erica Sanders, interim director of undergraduate admissions.”The students selected for admission have challenged themselves academically while engaging in a broad array of activities outside of the classroom.

“Our holistic review process ensures that Michigan students are prepared to do well in U-M’s rigorous academic environment, and to complement their class and the university community as a whole, in both curricular and extracurricular settings.”

The number of underrepresented minority students in the freshman class was nearly the same as last year, but when calculated as part of the larger incoming class, the percentage of underrepresented minority freshmen slightly declined from 10.6 percent to 10 percent.

The entering class of 2014 is the fifth to be admitted under the new federal demographic classification system, which requires all institutions of higher education to collect and report data on race and ethnicity in a new way. This methodology is not directly comparable to years prior to 2010, so disaggregated figures for specific races and ethnicities are not reliably comparable to earlier years, although overall totals and grouped subtotals are fairly comparable.

Last week, President Mark Schlissel said the university was developing new approaches to increasing student diversity that he will present to the university community later this year. These efforts will build upon many initiatives already underway on campus.

“This remains a top priority for me,” Schlissel told the Board of Regents on Oct. 16.

“This is a critical time to be at the University of Michigan,” said Ishop. “I am very excited by the opportunity to harness the university’s vast energy and potential to the task of ensuring access for a broadly diverse community of scholars.”

To uphold its longstanding commitment to ensure U-M is financially accessible to in-state admitted undergraduate students with financial need, the university is investing more general fund institutional resources in financial aid than ever before: $183.4 million in undergraduate and graduate-student need-based financial aid, an increase of $22.2 million over the previous year. This is the sixth consecutive year with no increase in net cost for state-resident undergraduate students with need.

U-M students choose from approximately 680 degree programs, including nearly 250 undergraduate majors, and more than 7,300 courses offered by its 19 schools and colleges.

This abundant teaching and learning environment supports a 97 percent freshman retention rate and a 90 percent six-year graduation rate, one of the country’s best. That’s seven percentage points higher than just 12 years ago, and 32 percentage points above the national average for four-year institutions.

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