Student Profile Fall 2008

Student Headcount
Approximately 15,700 students were enrolled at UMSL in the Fall 2008 semester ncluding 11,910 (78.4%) on the main campus in St. Louis County. The main campus enrollment included 479 first time freshmen, 8,907 (74.7%) undergraduates, 2,831 (23.8%) graduate students and 178 (1.5%) professional degree students.

Degrees Conferred
For the 12-month period from July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008, UMSL conferred 2,937 degrees, including 2,016 baccalaureate degrees, 729 master's degrees, 28 education specialist degrees, 61 doctoral degrees, and 38 professional degrees (Doctor of Optometry). The University also conferred 64 graduate certificates in this period.

Enrollment Status
On the main campus, the majority of first-time freshmen (92.0%) were enrolled full-time, while 64.3% of all undergraduates were enrolled full-time and 35.7% part-time. Among graduate students, 26.3% enrolled full-time and 73.7% part-time. All professional degree (Optometry) students were enrolled full-time. At all locations where UMSL students were enrolled, 42.7% of students were enrolled full-time and 57.3% part-time.

Credit Load
The average credit load for first-time freshmen was 13.1 semester hours of credit, while all undergraduates, on average, enrolled in 11.0 semester hours of credit. The average number of credit hours for graduate students was 6.1, while professional degree students enrolled in 20.0 credit hours on average.

Freshmen Characteristics
Among entering first-time, full-time freshmen from Missouri high schools, the high school core grade point average (GPA) was 3.157 on a 4.0 scale. Half of these entering freshmen had a core high school GPA ranging from 2.810 to 3.580. Among first-time, full-time freshmen from Missouri high schools, half had ACT composite scores ranging from 21 to 26. More than three-fourths (85%) of first-time, full-time freshmen ranked in the upper half of their high school graduating class. The majority (76.5%) of degree-seeking first-time freshmen came from St. Louis City, St. Louis County, St. Charles County and Jefferson County with the remainder coming from other Missouri areas (7.4%) and other states (16.1%).

Transfer Students
The majority (79.4%) of new undergraduate students who enrolled at UMSL main campus in the Fall 2008 semester began their post-secondary education at another institution. Most of these transfer students began their post-secondary education at a Missouri Community college, especially those community colleges in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

Average Grade Point Average of Enrolled Students
Among all undergraduates enrolled at UMSL in Fall 2008, the mean grade point average (GPA) was 3.009 on a 4.0 scale. Among all graduate students, this GPA was 3.748 and among professional degree students the GPA was 3.322. Among student earning a bachelor's degree from July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008, the mean grade point average (GPA) was 3.099 at graduation. Of these graduates, half had a GPA ranging from 2.697 to 3.521.

Educational Goals
The vast majority (96.6%) of students enrolled on the main campus identified themselves as seeking a degree.

Gender
Of students enrolled at all locations, 65.4% were women and 34.6% were men. Of undergraduates enrolled on the main campus, 57.2% were women. Women comprised 66.8% of graduate students and 55.6% of professional degree students on the main campus.

Age
The average age of all students on campus was 27.3 years. The average age of first-time freshmen was 18.6 years. The average age of all undergraduates was 25.5 years, with half of all undergraduates ranging in age from 21 to 27. Graduate students were 32.9 years of age on average, while professional (Optometry) students were 25.1 years of age on average.

Ethnicity
Among those students reporting their ethnic backgrounds, 78.5% of UMSL students were Caucasian. African-American students represented 16.2% of all students, with students from other ethnic groups representing 5.3% of all enrolled students.

Financial Assistance
Over seventy percent (74.7%) of all undergraduate students received one or more forms of financial assistance, while 62.3% of graduate students received such assistance. All professional degree students received financial assistance.

Geographic Origin
Of students studying on the main campus, 84.2% are from the St. Louis metropolitan area, including 87.5% of undergraduate students. This figure is smaller (77.1%) for graduate students and for professional degree students (34.8%).

Among students enrolled on the main campus, 88% were Missouri residents. Among graduate students, 83.4% were Missouri residents, while 50.3% of professional degree students were from Missouri. UMSL students came from 46 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The most frequently represented home states of UMSL students, besides Missouri, were Illinois, Kansas, Texas, Indiana, and Tennessee. Among the 535 non-immigrant international students from 76 countries, the countries most frequently represented were India, People's Republic of China, South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, and Thailand.

Class Size/Faculty: Student Ratio
More than two-thirds (70.9%) of undergraduate classes enrolled 29 or fewer students and more than 44.4% of the undergraduate classes enrolled 19 or fewer students. Among all classes offered on the main campus, the student to faculty ratio was 16:1 (2008 data).