Undergraduate Students and Freshman Application Numbers Also Set New Benchmarks

Continuing its plan for growth, DePaul University’s enrollment figures for fall 2001 set new records for total number of students enrolled. Total university enrollment is 21,363, an increase of nearly four percent, or 815 students, over last year’s total. The increase means that DePaul remains the largest Catholic university in the United States, a distinction it first achieved in 1998.

DePaul enrolled a freshman class of 2,051 students, 77 percent larger than the freshman class of just five years ago. DePaul maintained its selectivity as a record number of 8,455 freshman applications were received by the university. A record number of 13,020 total undergraduate students are enrolled at DePaul this fall.

“Receiving a record number of freshmen applications is yet another indication of the growing interest, excitement and demand for DePaul’s programs,” said Ray Kennelly, associate vice president for enrollment management. “We have an exceptionally diverse, academically strong freshman class, including a growing number of first-generation college students. This keeps with DePaul’s mission of providing educational opportunity for all.”

Since 1996, DePaul’s total enrollment has grown by 24 percent, an increase of 4,070 students. DePaul has set a goal to enroll 24,000 students by 2006 and is on track to reach that goal, which is driven by DePaul’s commitment to expand access to higher education.

“Clearly, we are now in very different economic times that certainly affect institutions of higher education around the nation,” said David Kalsbeek, DePaul vice president for enrollment management. “Nevertheless, we are proud to report that we continue to meet the enrollment goals and targets that we established one year ago.”

This year’s freshman class is the most diverse in university history, with minority students representing 33 percent of the class. The class is 59 percent female. Freshmen hail from 40 different states, and 80 percent of the class is from the state of Illinois.

A total of 7,286 graduate students are registered for the fall 2001 term, an increase of more than four percent and 301 students over last year’s figures. Total graduate credit hours have grown by six percent, and applications to DePaul’s master’s programs rose by 10 percent this fall. The largest enrollment gains among new students in graduate programs were in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which saw 18 percent growth, and DePaul’s nationally ranked Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, which experienced an 11 percent increase in the number of new students enrolled. In addition, DePaul’s School of Computer Science, Telecommunications and Information Systems (CTI), the largest graduate computer science program in Illinois, enrolled 2,398 students. Total law school enrollment at DePaul is 1,057.

In addition to its Lincoln Park and Loop campuses in Chicago, DePaul has campuses in Lake Forest (Barat and Conway Park), Des Plaines (O’Hare Campus), Rolling Meadows, Naperville and Oak Forest (South Campus). DePaul also offers MBA and bachelor degree programs in Hong Kong, and an MBA program in Bahrain.