The Division of Enrollment Services reports that intensified strategic recruitment efforts yielded record-setting numbers of applications and admissions for Fall 2008. In combination with improved retention rates for Fall 2007 freshmen, these efforts resulted in an all-time high total enrollment of 30,300 in Fall 2008. Improved recruitment also brought more minority and international students to IUPUI in 2007 and 2008, with the number of minority students in Fall 2008 rising to 4,600, up from 4,522 in Fall 2007, and the number of international students reaching 1,357, up from 1,137 the previous year.
Scholarship assistance to IUPUI students increased dramatically in 2007-2008. The Office of Student Scholarships, a unit of the Division of Enrollment Services, awarded over $26 million to 10,512 students, an increase of more than $11 million over the prior year, with further increases projected for the current academic year.
The Center for Research and Learning secured two highly competitive renewal grants for the McNair Scholars Program and the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP). Both of these federally funded programs aim to increase the numbers of low-income, first-generation, and under-represented students who pursue Ph.D.s and careers in higher education, with LSAMP focusing specifically on strengthening minority participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. The grants will provide intensive support to 34 students annually over the next five years.
The 2008 edition of U.S. News and World Report's America's Best Colleges once again recognized IUPUI's first-year experience and learning communities as "programs that really work." Also included in this list were our undergraduate research programs, sponsored by the Center for Research and Learning, and our service learning programs, sponsored by the Office of Service Learning in the Center for Service and Learning.
