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Student Profile Fall 2009

Student Headcount
Approximately 16,500 students were enrolled at UMSL in the Fall 2009 semester ncluding 12,317 (74.4%) on the main campus in St. Louis County. The main campus enrollment included 527 first time freshmen, 9,166 (74.4%) undergraduates, 2,973 (24.1%) graduate students and 178 (1.5%) professional degree students.

Degrees Conferred
For the 12-month period from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009, UMSL conferred 3,017 degrees, including 2,017 baccalaureate degrees, 771 master's degrees, 42 education specialist degrees, 63 doctoral degrees, and 44 professional degrees (Doctor of Optometry). The University also conferred 80 graduate certificates in this period.

Enrollment Status
On the main campus, the majority of first-time freshmen (93.9%) were enrolled full-time, while 64.7% of all undergraduates were enrolled full-time and 35.3% part-time. Among graduate students, 25.4% enrolled full-time and 74.6% part-time. All professional degree (Optometry) students were enrolled full-time. At all locations where UMSL students were enrolled, 42.3% of students were enrolled full-time and 57.7% part-time.

Credit Load
The average credit load for first-time freshmen was 13.2 semester hours of credit, while all undergraduates, on average, enrolled in 11.1 semester hours of credit. The average number of credit hours for graduate students was 6.0, while professional degree students enrolled in 20.5 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 3.168 on a 4.0 scale. Half of these entering freshmen had a core high school GPA ranging from 2.830 to 3.540. Among first-time, full-time freshmen from Missouri high schools, half had ACT composite scores ranging from 20 to 26. More than one-half (60%) of first-time, full-time freshmen ranked in the upper half of their high school graduating class. The majority (79.3%) 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 (5.1%) and other states (9.1%), and other countries (6.5%).

Transfer Students
The majority (76.1%) of new undergraduate students who enrolled at UMSL main campus in the Fall 2009 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 2009, the mean grade point average (GPA) was 2.919 on a 4.0 scale. Among all graduate students, this GPA was 3.716 and among professional degree students the GPA was 3.289. Among student earning a bachelor's degree from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009, the mean grade point average (GPA) was 3.134 at graduation. Of these graduates, half had a GPA ranging from 2.726 to 3.560.

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, 61.8% were women and 38.2% were men. Of undergraduates enrolled on the main campus, 57.9% were women. Women comprised 63.7% of graduate students and 56.7% of professional degree students on the main campus.

Age
The average age of all students on campus was 27.4 years. The average age of first-time freshmen was 18.5 years. The average age of all undergraduates was 25.7 years, with half of all undergraduates ranging in age from 21 to 27. Graduate students were 32.8 years of age on average, while professional (Optometry) students were 25.0 years of age on average.

Ethnicity
Among those students reporting their ethnic backgrounds, 77.1% of UMSL students were Caucasian. African-American students represented 17.3% of all students, with students from other ethnic groups representing 5.6% of all enrolled students.

Financial Assistance
Over seventy percent (75.8%) of all undergraduate students received one or more forms of financial assistance, while 60.8% of graduate students received such assistance. Virtually all (98.7%) of professional degree students received financial assistance.

Geographic Origin
Of students studying on the main campus, 82.1% are from the St. Louis metropolitan area, including 85.3% of undergraduate students. This figure is smaller (75.6%) for graduate students and for professional degree students (28.1%).

Among students enrolled on the main campus, 90.1% were Missouri residents. Among graduate students, 84.2% were Missouri residents, while 47.8% of professional degree students were from Missouri. UMSL students came from 48 states, excluding Missouri. The most frequently represented home states of UMSL students, besides Missouri, were Illinois, Kansas, Texas, California, and Ohio. Among the 536 non-immigrant international students from 63 countries, the countries most frequently represented were India, People's Republic of China, India, South Korea, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia.

Class Size/Faculty: Student Ratio
More than two-thirds (70.0%) of undergraduate classes enrolled 29 or fewer students and more than 43.6% of the undergraduate classes enrolled 19 or fewer students. Among all classes offered on the main campus, the student to faculty ratio was 17:1 (2009 data).

Most Popular Majors
In the table below, the ten most popular majors and areas of study, on the basis of program enrollment, are listed in descending order beginning with the most popular.

Undergraduate Major

Master's Degree

Doctoral Degree

Business Administration

Business Administration

Education

Accounting

Secondary Education

Psychology

Nursing

Counseling

Biology

Psychology

Nursing

Chemistry

Elementary Education

Social Work

Political Science

Criminology and Criminal Justice

Elementary Education

Nursing

Biology Educational Administration Criminology and Criminal Justice

Communication

History

Business Administration

Secondary Education

Accounting

Physics

Studio Art

English

Applied Mathematics


Enrollment by Academic Unit
In Fall 2009 students enrolled in seven colleges and one school of the University:



School/College

Number & Percentage of All Undergraduate Students Enrolled at UMSL

Number & Percentage of
All Graduate Students Enrolled at UMSL

College of Arts and Sciences

3,787(41.3%)

1,002 (33.7%)

College of Business Administration

2,355 (25.7%)

517 (17.4%)

College of Education

1,062 (11.6%)

1,080 (36.3%)

Engineering Program

369 (4.0%)

NA

Evening College 8 (0.1%) NA

College of Fine Arts and Communication

933 (10.2%)

44 (1.5%)

Graduate School
(MPPA)

NA

101 (3.4%)

Nursing

655 (7.2%)

225 (7.6%)


Optometry


NA

4 (0.1%) graduate students and 178 professional students