Records fell at all three UW campuses this fall, as Seattle’s new freshman class was the largest ever, and both Bothell and Tacoma reached the highest enrollments in their seven-year history.
In Seattle, there were 4,505 new freshmen, about 500 more than last year. The old record for entering freshmen was 4,373, set in 1965.
For the main campus, total Autumn Quarter enrollment was 35,367 students, about a thousand more than last year. The numbers broke down to 25,740 undergraduates and 9,627 graduate and professional students.
One UW enrollment record still holds—the total headcount of 37,547 students in 1979.
Seattle’s new freshman class continued the high academic standards of past years. The average grade point was 3.60, which compares to 3.61 in 1996. The average Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) score was 1148, an increase from 1141 in 1996.
In addition to new freshmen, the UW attracted 2,016 transfer students from community and baccalaureate colleges.
At the main campus, state residents made up almost 83 percent of the 1997 student body, with 29,262 Washingtonians. There were 1,843 international students enrolled, constituting about 5 percent of the total student population.
More than half of the students were women, numbering 17,957 or 50.8 percent. Minority students totaled 9,560 or 27 percent of the enrollment.
With 1,128 students enrolling at UW Tacoma’s new downtown site, the campus broke its record of 999 students set last year. UW Bothell enrolled 1,092 students, also a record, breaking last year’s 910 total.
Women account for more than half of the students at both campuses—71 percent at Tacoma and 63 percent at Bothell.