U-M experiences record enrollment, despite decline in freshmen

The University of Michigan has experienced an increase in enrollment for the fall 2012 semester, breaking the record the school set last year.

Despite the sudden increase in students, U-M has also seen a decrease in overall investments and the number of freshmen.

According to a report prepared by the U-M Office of the Registrar, enrollment at the Ann Arbor campus is now at 43,426 students.

Of those students, roughly two-thirds are undergraduates, which is a 2.1 percent increase from last year. However, the number of freshmen has dropped by 1.3 percent, to a total of 6,171.

The other third of the student body composes of 15,447 graduate students as of this fall.

The number of applications sent to the university was also a record-setter this year, as applications rose by 7.5 percent. Despite the increase, the university dropped their admission offers by 3.3 percent from 2011.

U-M is known for how stringent it is about accepting applications with a certain GPA, as well as a higher SAT score than other universities in the state.

One possibility for the record-setting enrollment numbers, despite the decline in freshmen numbers, is that an overload of transfer students may have skewed the numbers.

The Office of Public Affairs at U-M could not be reached for comment.