A record number of students are enrolled for the fall semester at the UTM. That total also includes a record number of first-time, full-time freshmen with increased ACT scores and grade-point averages, and an increase in transfer and graduate students.

Based on preliminary figures, enrollment at UTM is 6,064, a 6.8 percent increase compared to last year, and the highest total enrollment surpassing the 1997 record. First-time, full-time freshmen total 1,129, topping a previous high in 1998. Final figures, compiled by the Office of Institutional Research and Planning, will be available next week.

“The record overall enrollment is positive news, but I am also pleased with the increased first-time, full-time freshmen numbers and the ACT scores and grade-point averages that they bring with them to UTM,” said Dr. Nick Dunagan, UTM chancellor. “These are students who have achieved academic success. We want to be a part of their continued success.”

Fall enrollment reflects that first-time, full-time freshmen have an average high school 3.29 GPA and average ACT score of 22.19. Compared to last year’s totals, UTM will have 353 more undergraduates for a 6.7 percent increase; 184 more first-time freshmen, a 19.2 percent increase; 123 additional transfer students, which represents a 41.7 percent increase; and 33 more graduate students, up 8.2 percent.

The positive enrollment figures follow the recent notification from U.S.News & World Report that UTM is listed in the top 25 master’s level public universities in the South and that the university ranked above the state average in 36 of 37 categories on the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) spring survey of currently enrolled students.

“UTM offers excellent academic programs and a residential campus atmosphere that provide students with many opportunities for a great collegiate experience,” said Dunagan.