Campus-wide celebration planned
Belmont University has set another school record for fall enrollment, achieving a milestone goal two years early as more than 4,300 students have enrolled for the fall semester. Five years ago, with enrollment less than 3,000 students, Belmont’s administration and Board of Trustees set a goal of increasing enrollment to 4,000 by the fall of 2007. The final total for the fall 2005 semester shows that 4,319 students have enrolled at Belmont for the fall semester, 378 more than in the fall of 2004, an increase of 9.6 percent.
To celebrate, Belmont University President Dr. Robert Fisher is hosting the entire Belmont community for a cookout lunch Friday on campus in front of the Beaman Student Life Center from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The school cafeteria will be closed for lunch Friday, so thousands of students will be eating hot dogs to celebrate Belmont roasting its enrollment goal two years early.
In addition to achieving its growth goal two years ahead of schedule, Belmont enrolled its largest freshman class ever – 792 freshman, 65 more than last year – and also has recorded the largest one-year increase in enrollment in school history, 378 students.
This year’s freshman class is the most academically qualified freshman class ever at Belmont, with an average score of 25.3 on the ACT college entrance exam, up from last year’s 25.1.
“Belmont University has the right vision for its future, and our rapid enrollment growth validates it,” said Dr. Robert Fisher, president of the university. “Achieving our goal of 4,000 students two years early is a great milestone but the most important data reflects the rising academic quality of students who are attracted to Belmont.”
A third of the members the 2005 freshmen class were ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class, and two thirds graduated in the top 25 percent of their high school graduating class. The range of ACT scores for the middle 50 percent of this year’s freshmen class is 23-28.
Belmont University’s enrollment has grown 45 percent since the fall of 2000, when 2,976 students enrolled.
Photos of Welcome Week 2005 activities by Belmont University staff photographer Michael Krouskop. All images clickable for larger version.
