LSU starts school year with record number of freshmen

LSU has a record number of freshmen on campus this year as the first day of the fall semester was Monday. President F. King Alexander says the class has 6,200 students, up from last year’s record 5,800 with an average GPA of nearly 3.7.

“It’s a very highly achieving class.  It’s an out-of-state record, in terms of students coming to us and it is an in-state record,” said Alexander.

Alexander adds with new facilities and residence halls, the school has room to grow.  The number of students residing on campus has also grown to a record level from 6,700 to 7,800. Alexander says this contributes to better outcomes.

“Most studies that you’ll see, students who reside on campus are much more likely to retain better and stay and pursue their collegiate experience, while also graduating more,” said Alexander.

Alexander credits work in several areas for the growth and says the numbers are a testament to the effectiveness of the holistic admissions approach LSU has taken.

“For those that think that we’re just enrolling students that aren’t qualified, we’ve never had a more successful academic class than the one that just entered,” said Alexander.