With the start of the Fall semester comes the arrival of new faces on campus, namely a new freshman class at the University of Dallas.
Speaking of the class, Dr. Jonathan Sanford, president of the university, said, “They seem to be students who are desirous of being at the University of Dallas. They want what we provide, and they’ve got the capacity to receive it.”
Carey Christenberry, director of undergraduate admissions, said, “This class is great. It’s great. I think the last two classes have been very strong.”
The current freshman class consists of just under 400 students. 54% of the class are female and 46% male. 53% of the freshman population is white, 27% Hispanic and 8% Asian. There are 10 international students, including two from Australia.
The class has a fair mix of majors, with 18% majoring in business, making it the number one declared major. 17% are majoring in biology, making it the second-most-declared major. English, politics, and philosophy make up the third, fourth and fifth majors. A fair share of the class are undecided.
Roughly 55% of the class are from the state of Texas, with the remaining 45% coming from out of state. 16% of the class are homeschool students and about 30% come from a typical public school. Roughly 75% of the class is Catholic.
Many of the current freshmen attended the Scholars of Excellence scholarship event last spring and committed to UD even though they did not win the scholarship.
“We invited 90 students to our scholars of excellence last year,” said Christenberry. “87 attended. Of that 87 who attended, there are over 50 of them that are here. And so even though you had 10 winners, you have 50 of the kids that were the very top who are here now, which is just incredible.”
UD is also in the process of creating four new scholarships that will be full tuition discipline scholarships. The four full tuition scholarship competitions will be held in English, biology/chemistry, politics/philosophy and business, with one full tuition scholarship available for each category.
“We’re not really increasing the number of full tuition scholarships substantially, but we’re increasing where those scholarships come from,” said Christenberry. “And because they’re our most popular majors, it makes sense to try to do something there, because our departmental scholarships generally don’t include those things.This gives a chance for a kid who is interested in that subject to potentially get a full tuition scholarship.”
If all goes well, UD will be able to draw more applications with its full tuition scholarships and attract excellent students. In the meantime, the current freshman class is already making its presence felt on campus, both academically and socially.
“I think that they’re great academic fits, and they’re also really great cultural fits,” said
Christenberry. “I’ve already had rave reviews from professors who are very pleased with the type of students they’re getting – the quality of academic students they’re getting.”
“I’m getting a lot of good feedback from faculty members that it seems to be a quite strong class,” said Sanford. “And I was impressed by how many of the parents of this freshman class stuck around for a lot of disorientation and were really engaged. There seems to be a more vivid engagement with the life of the University of Dallas.”
Each academic year ends with the departure of one class, but it begins with the arrival of another. Christenberry believes the current freshman class will leave its mark on UD.
“They will thrive in the UD community,” said Christenberry. “They will be blessings to the UD community. And they will become – and many of them already have – great UD students. Within the next two years, everybody will be well aware of how phenomenal this class is. I’ve got great confidence in them.”