MINNEAPOLIS — As classes start Tuesday, the University of Minnesota is reporting another record freshman class on the flagship Twin Cities campus in terms of both size and diversity, with about 7,300 first-year and 1,700 transfer students.
The number of first-year students in the Class of 2028 eclipses last year's freshman class by roughly 600 students. It's the fourth year in a row that the university has reported either record — or near-record — enrollment for an incoming class.
"You see a new face every time you walk down Washington Avenue or University Avenue," said Tyler Barsness, a freshman from Coon Rapids. "It's pretty impressive."
Grace Milan, an Eagan native, said she was very excited to begin classes after Labor Day.
"It still hasn't hit yet," she said of the college experience. "I'm a little bit in shock, like, wow!"
According to the university's news release, the Class of 2028 system-wide boasts students from more than 70 countries outside the U.S.
"It's so many different people. International, out-of-state, it's so many people," Selamawit Eshetu said while walking on the quad. "It makes conversations so much more fun."
Overall, undergraduate enrollment at the U of M's Twin Cities campus has largely remained steady over the past decade. Last year, the school reported 30,469 undergraduate students, compared to 30,610 in 2011-12.
At a Board of Regents meeting in May, former interim president Jeff Ettinger pointed to this enrollment trend as an outlier in Minnesota.
"Of all the four-year colleges and universities in the state of Minnesota, Macalester, Carleton, and the U of M Twin Cities campus," Ettinger said, "are the only campuses that have managed to maintain enrollment over the past decade."
Indeed, as the university has acknowledged, "flagship campuses have generally seen enrollment return to or exceed pre-pandemic levels, while many regional campuses have experienced continued challenges." The University of Minnesota's Duluth, Crookston and Morris campuses, for example, have all seen enrollment declines of double-digit percentage points over the past decade.
As students prepare for the start of classes in Minneapolis, though, many of them say the U of M's Twin Cities campus was a popular choice among their peers.
"This is like my High School 2.0!" Betaniya Negash joked. "Everyone from that area is here right now."