UConn Class of 2022 Touted as 'Stellar' by its President, CT Guv

STORRS/HARTFORD, CT — University of Connecticut President Susan Herbst and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Wednesday touted the incoming freshman class as "the most diverse and among the most academically accomplished in recent history."

They also used the word "stellar."

The credentials of the UConn Class of 2022 were outlined at a news conference at the Legislative Office Building.

More than 4,000 of the approximately 5,500 freshmen enrolling across UConn’s campuses are Connecticut residents, hailing from 164 of the state’s 169 towns and cities.

The Class of 2022 represents UConn’s largest freshmen class ever, with about 1,000 transfer students – also mostly from Connecticut – joining the 5,500 new freshmen, according to preliminary figures released Wednesday.

Herbst cited improvements over the years in the area of faculty, facilities and courses of study that have established a "winning formula" at UConn, "at a cost that is a value for Connecticut students and families, thanks to financial aid."

About 3,764 of the freshmen will be based at UConn's main campus in Storrs. First-year students begin moving into residence halls Friday and other students return throughout the weekend.

Classes are slated to begin Monday at all campuses.

The freshmen in Storrs are averaging 1,306 on their SAT scores – a number higher than any previous class – and, according to Herbst, "reflect the diversity of the state and nation," with more than 40 percent being "students of color."

Herbst also attributed "recruiting successes" to "the state’s investments in the University to make it one of the best research institutions in the nation."

She added, “UConn is today competing with many of the best schools in America for talented Connecticut high school graduates. When you invest in UConn, you are investing in Connecticut’s future. And this class, like all our freshman classes, is some of the best evidence of that.”

This fall, UConn’s overall undergraduate student body will number about 24,375, with about 19,331 of those students based at Storrs.

About 74 percent of UConn’s incoming freshmen are Connecticut natives, the highest number in recent years. Overall, about 80 percent of UConn’s undergraduate student body hails from Connecticut, a figure that has held steady for about the past decade and "is not expected to change in the foreseeable future," school officials said.

UConn attracted 175 valedictorians and salutatorians this year across all campuses, and will add a record 550 freshmen students to its Honors Program.

“UConn offers so many opportunities academically, and I really trusted the close friends I have who’ve come here before me and told me how much they love it,” Annie Foley, an incoming Honors Program freshman from Orange, said of her choice to forego over schools and stay in Connecticut.

“I knew right away that UConn was the right place for me,” she said.

Fifty percent of the incoming freshmen at Storrs were in the top 10 percent of their graduating high school classes, and 84 percent were in the top 25 percent.

“As we reviewed this year’s applicants, our admissions team marveled at the talent and diversity in the applicant pool,” said Nathan Fuerst, UConn’s vice president for enrollment planning and management. “While competition for admission was intense, our entering students can rest assured that they earned their space in this class and are equipped with all the necessary tools for success at UConn. We are awed by their achievement as the most diverse and academically gifted class in UConn’s history.”

In all, more than 38,000 applications were submitted to UConn this time around, a new high. In 2001, that number was 13,600, officials said.

A total of 14,000 of those applications came from Connecticut residents.

Samuel Degnan-Morgenstern of Wallingford cited academic incentives in his decision to attend UConn. He was able to accumulate 41 transferable credits in a cooperative course of study program that allows him to start as a second-semester sophomore.

As was the case last year, new enrollment is also especially strong this year at UConn-Hartford and UConn-Stamford, both of which are far outpacing projections as the university’s investments in its regional campuses are drawing students specifically to those sites.

In fact, almost one-third of UConn’s new freshmen this year chose to enroll at one of the four regional campuses, up from about one-quarter of the freshmen in fall 2015. That was something Malloy was quick to point out.

The governor mentioned an engineering program that is "70 percent larger than when I became governor" and infrastructure improvements that took place amid a "challenging economy."

"It's part of the re-positioning of Connecticut to compete with other states," he said.

UConn is ranked No. 18 among U.S. News & World Report’s top public universities.

Photo Credit: Chris Dehnel

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