Movin’ In, Movin’ Up
Another Record Year for Enrollment
When Mason opened its doors for fall semester, its enrollment of more than 30,500 students represented the largest in the school’s 34-year history.
That record number of students included 2,473 freshmen and 2,208 transfers. The freshman class was selected from more than 11,000 applicants, a more than 8 percent increase over last year’s record applicant pool. Not only have the number of applications increased, but the quality of applications has increased as well, attributed in part to the growth of Mason’s reputation as a research institution and the men’s basketball team’s Final Four run last March. The number of applications from outside Virginia increased by 15 percent; the number of out-of-state enrollees, by 20 percent.
On move-in day, the friendly faces of student orientation leaders, deans, faculty members, and President Alan Merten greeted approximately 4,260 resident students who hauled televisions, crates, books, and family photos into Mason’s more than 20 residence halls. Mason has the fifth-largest residential student community in the Commonwealth of Virginia and is expected to add another 1,000 beds on the Fairfax Campus by fall 2008.
