KU also highlights student success and retention: it retained a record 88% of last year’s freshman class and reports record four-year and five-year graduation rates of 59.2% and 68%, respectively. This year’s freshman class is the fourth largest in KU history, and the university says the incoming class has an average high school GPA of 3.69.
Enrollment details include 3,058 fully online students (the second-highest total in KU’s history, excluding COVID-19 years) and 1,778 international students across all campuses, representing 5.7% of the student body—the lowest share since 2017. KU also reports that about 59% of first-time freshmen are Kansas residents.
KU expects enrollment to decrease going forward because of declining birthrates following the Great Recession, but the university says it will continue working to recruit students and support them after they arrive.