The number of students enrolled at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) for the fall semester is up nearly 7.4 percent over year-ago levels and 42.8 percent over four years ago, making UTD one of the fastest-growing public institutions of higher learning in the United States.
According to preliminary figures, total enrollment at UTD reached 13,593* for the fall semester of 2002 compared with 12,657 a year ago and slightly more than 11,000 the year before. It is the largest enrollment in school history and the first time the UTD student body has exceeded 13,000. In the 1998-99 school year, UTD had only 9,516 students.
“UTD’s enrollment continues to grow even in difficult economic conditions,” said university President Dr. Franklyn Jenifer. “Just as important, the university’s academic reputation also continues to soar, and the quality of our students remains high. The SAT scores of our incoming freshman this year average 1213 – the highest ever for UTD – and we are always among the leaders in the state in this area. The SAT scores aren’t in from all the other universities, but I would be disappointed if we weren’t among the top three public institutions in Texas in that area, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if UTD ranked first.”
Dr. Jenifer added that “more and more parents as well as students are beginning to realize that you can get an outstanding education at UTD at a reasonable price. We are no longer the best-kept secret in Texas.”
The number of undergraduate students at the university grew 9.8 percent to 8,204, while graduate students increased 4 percent to 5,389. Of UTD’s seven schools, the School of Management remains the largest, with 4,386 students for the fall semester, while 3,662 students are enrolled in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, the university’s second-largest school.
Minorities make up 33 percent of the student body, about the same as last year. The largest single group of minority students is Asian-American (17.8 percent of total enrollment), followed by African-American and Hispanic-American (both 6.6 percent of total enrollment). The number of international students increased to 2,299 (16.9 percent of total enrollment). The gender breakdown of the student body remains virtually the same as a year ago – 52.3 percent (7,109) of the students are males, and 47.7 percent (6,484) are females.
To help accommodate its rapid enrollment growth, UTD recently opened a 152,000-square-foot addition to the Jonsson School building and a 16,000-square-foot addition to the Student Union. In addition, the school recently completed construction of new on-campus apartments for 500 students and new athletic fields for men’s baseball and women’s softball teams. Meanwhile, other construction is under way on UTD’s Richardson campus, including a 200,000-square-foot building for the School or Management, a 23,000-square-foot satellite facility of the Callier Center for Communication Disorders and the renovation of existing buildings used by the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.