Due to a modest increase in the UW’s Evening Degree Program and more retention of continuing students, Fall Quarter enrollment grew from 34,269 last year to this year’s 34,598 on the Seattle campus.
The totals are the highest this decade, as the state gradually raises the UW enrollment lid. The record UW enrollment was set in 1979 with 37,547.
Among the new students were 3,626 entering freshmen with an average high school G.P.A. of 3.58.
The pressure to get into the UW is building, says UW Registrar W.W. (Tim) Washburn. This year his office was flooded with 12,516 applications for the freshmen class, a jump of 1,448 over last year.
While the UW received 800 more out-of-state applications than last year, about 87 percent of the entering freshmen are state residents.
Overall, about 82 percent of the student body are state residents, with 13 percent from other states and 5 percent international students.
There was a slight rise in minority student numbers, with 23 percent of the students from minority groups. The largest group are Asian Americans with 16 percent, a 1-percent jump over 1991. Other minority groups held steady compared to 1991, with African Americans at 3 percent, Hispanic Americans at 3 percent and American Indians at 1 percent.
Meanwhile, healthy growth continues at the UW’s two branches. Tacoma’s total student enrollment is 499. Bothell’s student numbers total 456, a 61 percent rise over last year.