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'Campus just keeps getting bigger and friendlier': Texas A&M boasts largest, most diverse freshman class

Posted at 5:21 PM, Sep 17, 2021
and last updated 2021-09-17 19:37:49-04

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS — We've all heard it....new year, new growth, but to Texas A&M, the saying means something different this year.

Enrollment numbers for the fall semester at A&M have been released, including the largest freshman class in the school's history.

Just under 73,000 students were enrolled on the first day of the fall semester.

"Anyone can really just find their place here," said Victoria Maese, a freshman at Texas A&M. "There are so many different places and organizations that you can join and find their people,"

Even though registration is still open and official figures won't be reported until after the 20th day of class, 12,459 freshmen were enrolled on the first day of the semester, nearly 11,500 thousand were part of the main campus.

"Even though the campus is already super friendly... there are so many organizations to join... Campus just gets bigger and friendlier," Maese said.

This freshman class on main campus represents 44 states and over 1,200 U.S. high schools.

The growth and expansion isn't the only thing that sticks out, but also who the student body is made up of.

"It is great being on a campus where female diversity wasn't very big back then and now it is. I think that is a good opportunity," Kerri Sittenauer, a freshman at A&M said.

Diversifying its student body is something Sittenauer appreciates.

Nearly 60 years ago, she wouldn't have been allowed to attend.

"Right now, there are more women undergraduate students at Texas A&M than there are men undergraduate students," Dudley Poston, a Demographer and Professor at Texas A&M said.

"For being an all-boys school when it first started and now... there's more females than males... I mean it's kind of just a number.. but it's a good number," Chayce Leonard, another freshman at A&M said. "There's a little something for everyone."

"The fact that they are letting more people come in and the fact that the female to male ratio is a little bit more even now... it's pretty great. Very progressive,"

First day of class numbers for fall enrollment increased by 2.6 percent from official numbers last year.

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