Indiana University East’s incoming freshmen class is the largest, most diverse and highest academically qualified group of new bachelor’s degree seeking students ever.

IU East has 413 freshmen enrolled for classes this fall, compared to 404 incoming freshman in fall 2013. The second highest incoming class enrolled 411 students.

The incoming class consists of 34.2 percent more students coming with Academic Honors from their high schools than last fall, a significant increase from 117 to 157. The number of 21st Century Scholars in the class also increased, from 108 to 134, a 24.1 percent increase.

In addition, U.S. students of color increased 14.3 percent over last year, including an increase of 30 percent in Hispanic/Latino students and 75 percent in African-American students.

Executive Vice Chancellor Larry Richards said, “While the actual number of additional students is not particularly large, the percentage increases represent growth that is going in the right direction at a time when the number of high school graduates in the region has been declining. That the number of students in the freshmen class who graduated from their high school with Academic Honors is substantially larger than last year is encouraging and indicates that more and more students are selecting IU East as their college of choice.”

Overall, IU East experienced another record-breaking enrollment with 4,573 students enrolled for the fall 2014 semester, a 2.6 percent increase compared to the same time last year. Students are enrolled in 42,050 credit hours this fall, a 3.8 percent increase over last year.

This is the seventh consecutive fall that IU East has experienced historic enrollment growth. Since fall 2007, IU East’s headcount enrollment has doubled.

Enrollment figures are not official until confirmed by the President of Indiana University.