RICHARDSON, Texas (Sept. 12, 2003) - The number of students enrolled at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) for the fall semester is up 3.4 percent over year-ago levels and 43.7 percent since the 1998-99 academic year.

According to preliminary figures, total enrollment at UTD reached a record 13,677* for the fall semester of 2003 compared with 13,229 a year ago. The enrollment is the largest in the school’s 34-year history and the first time the UTD student body has exceeded 13,600. In the 1998-99 school year, UTD had only 9,516 students.

"UTD continues to grow both quantitatively and qualitatively," said university President Dr. Franklyn Jenifer. "Just as our enrollment figures are at an all-time high, so are the average SAT scores of our incoming freshmen – in the 1225 range – and the amount of research we are doing."

Undergraduate enrollment increased 8.6 percent over last year – from 7,959 to 8,646. And while overall graduate enrollment declined 4.5 percent, from 5,270 students last year to 5,031 this year, doctoral enrollment grew more than eight percent over last year.

Of UTD's seven schools, the School of Management remains the largest, with 4,182 students enrolled for the fall semester, while 3,399 students are enrolled in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, the university's second-largest school. Preliminary figures indicated enrollment at both schools was down slightly from last year, but that could change as hundreds of undeclared students choose a major in the coming weeks.

The School of Natural Sciences & Mathematics had the highest percentage enrollment growth (27.4 percent), jumping from 1,166 students last year to 1,485 this year. Second was the School of Social Sciences, which increased from 793 students in the 2002-03 academic year to 983 this year, a hike of 24 percent; and third was the School of Arts & Humanities, which had a 21.5 percent jump in enrollment – from 720 students last year to 875 this year.

Minorities make up 32 percent of UTD's student body, about the same as last year. The largest single group of minority students is Asian-American (17 percent of total enrollment), followed by Hispanic-American (eight percent) and African-American (seven percent). International students comprise 16 percent of the student body, a figure that is virtually unchanged from last year. The gender breakdown of the student body also is essentially the same as last year - 53 percent of the students are males, and 47 percent are females.

To help accommodate its rapid enrollment growth, UTD last month opened a new 204,000-square-foot School of Management building and a 23,000-square-foot satellite of the Callier Center for Communication Disorders.

About UTD
The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor, enrolls more than 13,600 students. The school's freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the university's web site at www.utdallas.edu.