UM's Ann Arbor enrollment exceeds 50,000 students for the first time

The University of Michigan's student body exceeded 50,000 students for the first time in the Ann Arbor school's history, President Mark Schlissel announced Thursday during a Board of Regents meeting.

UM set the new high mark partly because it enrolled its largest-ever class — 7,290 — of first-year students. Officials attributed the rise in enrollment to increased interest in higher education during the second year of the pandemic.

The new freshmen class was selected from nearly 80,000 prospective first-year students who applied for the fall semester, which is nearly 15,000 more than the fall 2020 semester.

Of the 16,071 students who were offered admission, 75% of in-state students and a third of out-of-state students accepted and enrolled. The freshmen class is more than 400 students larger than a year ago.

Officials attributed the growth of the freshmen class to increases in Latinx and Black student enrollment, with 37% of students identifying as persons of color, up from 34% last year.

Overall undergraduate enrollment grew by 3% over last fall, from 31,329 to 32,282, officials said. Graduate and professional school enrollment grew 8.6%, from 16,578 last fall to 17,996 this year, giving UM a total student body of 50,278 students. The graduate and professional schools enrollment is also a record high for UM.

The number of first-year Latinx students grew 48% to 640 this year from 433 last year. The number of African American students increased 32% over last year, from 305 to 404 students. Students who identify as more than one ethnicity also increased but figures were not available from the university.

"Go Blue," Schlissel said after announcing the enrollment numbers.

kkozlowski@detroitnews.com