Largest freshman class expected to enroll this year

Nearly 4,400 freshman Golden Panthers will join the university community as members of the largest anticipated entering-freshman class in FIU’s history, according to the Office of Enrollment Services. More than 104 countries and 46 states are represented in this historic class.

Admits for the summer and fall semesters are up 9 percent compared to last year at this time, and the number expected to enroll is almost 10 percent more than last year’s enrollment figures. Of this group, 27 are National Merit, National Achievement or National Hispanic Scholars.

More than $1.6 million in scholarships has been awarded to 737 incoming freshmen, making this one of the largest award totals in the university’s history.

North Lauderdale Academy graduate Mailyn Morales is illustrative of the incoming class. The Cuban native came to Miami two years ago not knowing any English. She quickly proved herself during her junior and senior years of high school, however, and wound up valedictorian of her graduating class. Her academic success is emblematic of the type of student who will soon call FIU home, administrators say.

This success has occurred despite the many challenges encountered by Enrollment Services during its recruitment efforts early last fall.

“The biggest challenge we faced was last year’s hurricane season, which interrupted the recruiting schedule for most of the state,” said Carmen Brown, director of Undergraduate Admissions. “Many of the traditional forums we use to reach out to students and high school counselors were either postponed or cancelled altogether, but thanks to the diligence and resilience of our staff, we quickly made up lost ground and were able to exceed our numbers from last year.

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