Fall semester enrollment at USA is up 195 or 1.6 percent from one year ago to 12,510. In the last three years, USA’s enrollment has increased by a total of 10 percent or 1,125 students.

Baker High School saw a 26 percent increase in the number of its graduates entering USA as freshmen, producing 107 members of USA’s freshman class. Murphy and McGill-Toolen high schools each sent 89 freshmen to USA, representing one-year increases of 53 percent and 65 percent, respectively. Rounding out the top five were Theodore, which produced 72 USA freshmen, up 11 percent from last year, and Mary G. Montgomery, which saw a 29 percent increase this year to 71.

“We are gratified that increasingly greater percentages of academically talented high school students from Mobile and Baldwin counties are recognizing the quality of USA’s faculty and academic programs and making USA their first choice,” said USA President Gordon Moulton.

Moulton also attributed USA’s enrollment increase to improved academic scholarship opportunities for new and returning students and enhanced recruiting and retention efforts.

The Alabama Commission on Higher Education has not yet compiled enrollments for the state’s universities this fall, but ACHE data indicates that USA grew faster than any other Alabama university over the past two years.

USA this fall has also enrolled a record number of graduate students for the second straight year. Graduate school enrollment is 2,345 students, up 2 percent from last year’s record.

A record 2,800 USA students this year hold academic scholarships, bolstered by increased private giving to the University and a new scholarship program approved by the USA Board of Trustees three years ago.

The average ACT score for USA’s freshmen is 22.3, ranking in the 73rd percentile nationally. The USA entering class also reflects strong diversity, with African-Americans making up 14.5 percent of the freshman class.

USA’s enrollment had risen to a peak of 12,600 in 1994, but fell by more than 400 when the Alabama Legislature in 1996 declared that students in four USA feeder counties in Florida and Mississippi would be required to pay non-resident tuition, after earlier being allowed to attend USA at the in-state tuition rate. Students in Okaloosa and Walton counties in Florida and Hancock and Pearl River counties in Mississippi saw their tuition immediately double. USA now has its second-highest enrollment ever and is just 90 students from its all-time high.

USA drew freshmen from approximately 300 high schools nationwide. Below is a list of top feeder schools, with number of USA freshmen from these schools in parentheses and percent increase from last year provided for top 10:

1. Baker (107), up 26 percent
2. McGill-Toolen (89), up 65 percent
2. Murphy (89), up 53 percent
4. Theodore (72), up 11 percent
5. Mary G. Montgomery (71), up 29 percent
6. Davidson (65), up 8.3 percent
7. Satsuma (60), up 40 percent
8. Alma Bryant (52), up 41 percent
9. Daphne (48), up 60 percent
10. Faith Academy (35), same
11. Mobile Christian (32)
12. Grissom, Huntsville (29)
13. LeFlore (28)
14. Gulfport, Miss. (26)
15. Fairhope (25)
16. Ocean Springs, Miss. (24)
16. Shaw (24)
18. Alabama School of Mathematics and Science (23)
18. Cottage Hill Christian (23)
18. Saint Paul’s (23)

Nursing saw the greatest one-year increase among USA’s schools and colleges, with combined undergraduate and graduate enrollment up 11.7 percent to 1,275. Education grew 4.9 percent to 2,421, while Arts and Sciences rose 2.3 percent to 3,359. Other enrollments include Mitchell College of Business, 1,913; Allied Health Professions, 1,259; Engineering, 889; Computer and Information Sciences, 598; Medicine, 478; and Continuing Education and Special Programs, 318.

USA this past year graduated a total of 2,265 students, and will award its 50,000th degree in commencement at the end of the semester.

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