University of Hawai'i
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For Immediate Release:

September 24, 1997

Contact: Cheryl Ernst, (808) 956-5941

Freshmen Enrollment Up over 8 percent at UH Manoa

More than 1,500 students enrolled as classified first-time first-year students at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa this fall, representing an 8.4 percent increase over fall 1996, according to preliminary enrollment figures. (Official enrollment counts are taken after the fifth week of the semester at the end of the add-drop period.)

Manoa received another 1,233 new students in the form of classified students transferring to the Manoa campus-a 13.6 percent increase over last fall.

The figures lend credence to University officials' suspicion that the two-year decline in overall enrollment is a blip rather than a pattern, exaggerated by increasing graduation rates as students matriculate more quickly through degree programs.

"The increase in new enrollment is significant," comments UH President Kenneth P. Mortimer. "It means that students have confidence in the quality of our academic programs. Further, it indicates that any 'tuition shock' generated by the tuition increases of the last couple years has probably worn off as people realize that we're still the best bargain in town."

According to a composite profile, the incoming first-time freshmen:

  • Outscored the state and national average on Scholastic Aptitude Tests. The mean score for enrolling first-year students was 519 on verbal, compared to 505 nationally, and 565 on math, compared to 511 nationally.
  • Did well in high school. More than 3 in 10 were in the top 10 percent of their classes; more than two-thirds placed in the top quartile. Average high school grade point average was 3.32.
  • Are predominantly from Hawai'i (88.6 percent are state residents). Of the Hawai'i high school graduates, 69.2 percent attended public schools, 30.8 percent from private schools.

Of the new students who transferred into Manoa this fall:

  • Nearly 71 percent are residents of Hawai'i.
  • About 46 percent are juniors and 33 percent are sophomores, with the rest about evenly divided between freshman and senior status.
  • Almost two-thirds transferred from another UH campus-the largest groups from Kapi'olani CC (38 percent), Leeward CC (20 percent), Honolulu CC (14 percent), Maui CC (9 percent), Windward CC (8 percent) and UH Hilo (7 percent).
  • The vast majority (77 percent) enrolled in the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, followed by College of Business Administration (5 percent), College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (4 percent), School of Travel Industry Management and College of Education (3 percent each) and College of Engineering and School of Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific Studies (2 percent each).

 

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