|
|
Every fall thousands of students begin classes at UMass Boston, some returning to the University, some here for the first time. Who are these people, and how can we serve them best? The fullest answers to those questions must depend upon thousands of individual encounters, but statistics can tell part of the story.
The Office of Institutional Research reports that 12,923 students are enrolled in state-supported courses at UMass Boston, up 3.4% over fall 1998 (see note at end of story). Of these students, 9,811 (75.9%) are undergraduates, and 3,112 are graduate students. 58.9% are female, 41.1% male. 62.7% of those reporting are white, 12.2% African American, 10.2% of Asian/Pacific Islander background, 5.9% Hispanic, 1.1% Capeverdean, 0.4% Native American. 89.9% are Massachusetts residents, 7.2% are non-resident aliens. When the headcount figures are converted into "FTE" (or full-time-equivalencies) at the rate of 15 credits per undergraduate and 9 credits per graduate student, there are 6,961 undergraduate and 2,084 graduate FTE, for a total of 9,045 (up 3.8%).
Not all the new information has been analyzed yet, but if current projections are borne out we will soon know that nearly half of these students are studying part-time, that the median ages for undergraduates and graduate students are 24 and 31, that more than half are first-generation college students, and that they work more than 20 hours per week, on average, in addition to pursuing their studies.
Much information about new students is already available. There are 789 first-time freshmen at UMass Boston, an increase of 115 over fall '98. The average of reported SAT scores (excluding those of students entering through the DSP program) was 1033, up 13 points. The average high school grade point average was 2.83, virtually the same as last year's. As usual, the majority of the new undergraduates are transfer students (1,590, or 66.8%). Over 38% of these transferred in with grade point averages above 3.00. Of the new undergraduates 57.7% are female, 42.3% male. 58.9% of those reporting are white, 13.2% African American, 11.6% of Asian/Pacific Islander background, 6.4% Hispanic, 1.2% Capeverdean, 0.5% Native American. 83.7% are Massachusetts residents, 8.2% are non-resident aliens.
686 graduate students enrolled for the first time at UMass Boston. Of these 67.8% are female, 32.2% male. 70.4% of those reporting are white, 6.7% African American, 4.5% of Asian/Pacific Islander background, 2.8% Hispanic, 0.8% Capeverdean, 0.6% Native American. 77.6% are Massachusetts residents, 8.2% are non-resident aliens.
Such numbers provide planners with indispensable help. They also, of course, represent an extraordinary group of people. Among the "typically atypical" new freshmen, for example, are two students who entered the College of Arts and Sciences [?] at the age of 16. Linda Nwadike, graduated from Fenway Middle College High School and then completed the DSP progam at UMass Boston. Manaf Al-Sawaha, whose home is in Saudi Arabia, came to UMass Boston after attending high school in Kuwait. At the other end of the age spectrum is Gretchen Grant, 70, originally from New York City. She earned an associate's degree from Westchester Community College in 1982 and has now entered the College of Public and Community Service with an interest in pre-law studies.
New students in the Honors Program include Joshua Brown, who aspires to a filmmaking career and serves as a member of the Massachusetts Commission on Disability; Trisha Cole, the reigning Kansas State debating champion; Brendan Howard, a former senior class president at Boston Latin; and Alyssa Shutack, who joined the Peace Corps after a career in the telecommunications industry and taught business skills in Ukraine.
Note: An additional 1,270 students are enrolled in credit courses offered through the Division of Continuing Education (and only in those courses), for a grand total of 13,778. (Some students take both state-supported and Continuing Education courses; these students are included in the 12,923 headcount.)