Total enrollment is 9,131 students, up slightly from this time last year.
“To see an increase in first year, new transfer and new graduate students, as well as an increase in our first-year retention rate, when so many public universities are seeing a decline in these categories is a testament to the work of so many faculty and staff dedicated to making a quality University of Michigan education accessible to students across the region,” said Ray Metz, vice chancellor for enrollment management and student life, noting that the incremental growth also comes at a time when graduation numbers are up at the university.
Freshman enrollment is up more than 9 percent to 1,074 students, marking the largest freshman class in nearly 40 years. A strategic partnership aided in this year’s freshman enrollment figure as UM-Dearborn partnered with U-M Ann Arbor on the HAIL scholarship program—approximately 75 HAIL scholars are on campus this fall.
First year retention was also up slightly from 80 percent to 82 percent. UM-Dearborn’s retention rate is nearly 20 percent higher than the national retention rate for public universities.
New graduate student enrollment increased more than 13 percent to 620 students, with significant growth in the College of Engineering and Computer Science (more than 25 percent) and College of Business (nearly 10 percent) contributing to this year’s increase. Total graduate enrollment also increased 6.8 percent to 1,990 students.
Overall campus diversity continues to trend upward. Students of color represent more than 24 percent of the entire student population.
This year the university refined the way it reports headcount numbers to the state. Institutional Research will now report students enrolled at the end of the drop add period. This change is consistent with other state and federal data reporting required by the university. Overall growth patterns remain virtually unchanged, as reflected in the table below:
Five-year enrollment data:
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | Five-Year Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Reporting | 8688 | 8805 | 8765 | 8936 | 9083 | 9131 | +5.1% |
| Old Reporting | 8955 | 9083 | 9003 | 9193 | 9308 | 9386 | +4.81% |
