UT smashes enrollment record as students return for fall 2023 semester
Chancellor Donde Plowman played it conservative earlier this summer when she estimated a record-breaking 35,000 students would hit the University of Tennessee at Knoxville campus this fall.
Tennessee's flagship university is welcoming more than 36,000 students to campus as school started Aug. 23, according to a press release, smashing the previous record of 33,805 students set during the 2022-23 school year.
The university attributes the massive growth to record retention rates, increases in graduate and professional students and student success initiatives.
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“Our students are excited to experience life and learning on Rocky Top,” Plowman said in a press release. “We are committed to ensuring that once they’re here, they have the support they need to be successful. UT has made significant investments in student success initiatives over the years, becoming a national model for other institutions. These efforts have led to big increases in retention and graduation rates, which is important not just for our students but also our state. Our graduates become Tennessee’s workforce of the future.”
University of Tennessee enrollment fall 2023
Total enrollment is about 36,122 students this fall, but numbers won't be final until the 14th day of the semester. UT estimates a retention rate of students at about 90% - another record.
The freshman class of 2027 is just under 6,700 students, an anticipated decrease from last year's 6,846 first-year students.
Graduate and professional enrollment is up this year with over 7,250 students, a 9% increase over last year.
UT credited the Veterans Impact Program, the UT Success Academy and new Vol Edge program for contributing to the 96% of last year's first-year students who completed the year with good grades.
UT also will welcome the second class of Distinguished Tennessean Scholars, which awards one high school senior from every county a full ride, later this fall.
Outside of students, the university hired 187 full-time faculty members across the campus for the fall semester.
UT Knoxville freshmen, grad students by the numbers
Around 6,700 first-year students
More than 7,250 new and returning graduate and professional students
15% of incoming students are first-generation college students
Around 600 new veterans on campus
Where is the UT Knoxville class of 2027 from?
92 Tennessee counties
48 states
40 countries
Scholarships for the UT Knoxville class of 2027
93% of first-year students are receiving scholarships or financial aid
More than 95% of in-state first-year applicants offered pathway to education through programs like Vol Access Collaborative
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: University of Tennessee tops all-time student enrollment record
