Class of 2000 to include 875 students from 32 states, 110 from top 10% of their class | Press Releases

When the Class of 2000 arrives on campus in September, it is expected to include 875 students from 32 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, it was announced by Dean of Admission David Flynn. The class is the largest ever at the University.

Dr. Barbara Waters, assistant to the academic vice president for international programs, said a tentative list shows freshmen will arrive from 9 countries: Canada, Dominican Republic, India, Japan, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain and the United Kingdom. She added that the final list will be confirmed in August. In addition, she noted that students from at least six countries will be arriving for the MBA program or as exchange students.

The leading majors chosen by the incoming students in the College of Arts and Sciences are Biology, 99; Psychology, 49; Communication, 37; English, 34; and Politics and History, 19 each. In the School of Business, 44 have selected Accounting and 34 Marketing as the leading majors.

The International Studies major has attracted 17 students - 13 from the School of Business and 4 from Arts and Sciences.

Dean Flynn noted that approximately 40 percent of the students in Arts and Sciences and in Business have not yet selected a major, but still chose to attend Fairfield based on the University's overall offerings.

The School of Business with an expected enrollment of 283 will have one of its largest freshman classes. Dean Flynn said these applicants appeared to have been influenced by the changes in the curriculum which now stress the interrelationship of business areas as well as the returning interest in American society in pursuing careers in business.

The class was chosen from 5,245 applications and is almost evenly split by gender: 50.16 percent female and 49.83 percent male. The multicultural enrollment of the class is 11.3 percent AHANA (African-American, Hispanic, Asian, Native American) students, the second consecutive year that it has exceeded 11 percent.

Compared with the Class of '99, the enrollments from several states showed large gains, notably Pennsylvania which increased from 22 to 58; Massachusetts from 124 to 153; Florida from 2 to 7; Ohio 3 to 8; New Hampshire from 7 to 13; and Oregon, from 0 to 3. Other states represented in the Class of '00 after not having any students in the Class of '99 are Arizona, Delaware, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

Continuing as the main sources for students are Connecticut 216, New York 205, and New Jersey 168.

The average student ranked in the top third of the class and 110 incoming students ranked in the top 10 percent of their classes. Sixty of the students attended Jesuit high schools and 24 freshmen will receive Presidential Scholarships, non-need tuition assistance of $7,000 a year.

The class profile also shows that 105 students have direct family ties to Fairfield since 42 are the sons or daughters of alumni; 26 are brothers or sisters of alumni; and 37 have brothers or sisters currently attending the university.

Dean Flynn commented, "When we began recruiting this class in March of 1995, there was the usual trepidation about meeting our goals. However, in bringing together the students who will close the decade of the Nineties, we can report that our numbers are healthy and the class is talented."

He added, "I would like to thank everyone who had any connection to bringing in the freshman class. Their efforts certainly paid significant dividends."