Media Memo
News Bureau . Schofield Hall 201 . Eau Claire, WI 54702
phone: (715) 836-4741
fax: (715) 836-2900

Characteristics of New Freshmen
at UW-Eau Claire

Below is a summary of characteristics of the 2004 freshman class. You may find it of use/interest as you prepare to cover the start of UW-Eau Claire's 2004-05 academic year.

First-year students will begin moving into the residence halls Monday, Aug. 30, and the halls open to continuing students Tuesday, Aug. 31. Fall semester classes will begin at 8 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 2.

If you have specific questions or want more details about the characteristics of this year's incoming freshman class, you can contact Debbie Gough, director of advising/testing/orientation, at (715) 836-3487 or goughdm@uwec.edu.

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Characteristics of the 2004 Freshman Class

This fall 2,034 new freshmen will join the UW-Eau Claire campus community. Members of the 2004 freshman class were selected from a record-number 7,300 applicants. The class is one of the most academically talented classes in the university's history. And the students' comments on their Academic Planning Questionnaires indicate that they see themselves as hard working, willing to do whatever it takes to be successful and socially secure. The following is a sampling of characteristics of the class.

Demographics

• A majority of the new freshmen come from Wisconsin and Minnesota.
• Forty-three percent of the new freshmen are the first in their family to go to college.
• Sixty-two percent of the freshmen are female and 38 percent are male.
• The percentage of low-income students is down slightly (16 percent from 17 percent).
• There are 80 multicultural students in the 2004 class.
• Fourteen percent of the new freshmen come from a high school with a graduating class of under 100. Ten years ago this figure was twice as large.

Academic Preparedness

• The average ACT composite of the freshman class is 24.4, well above the Wisconsin average of 22.2 and the national average of 20.8
• About 20 percent of the students rank in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating classes and 56 percent rank in the top 25 percent of their high school graduating class.
• A total of 764 students — or 37.5 percent of the freshman class — are starting their college career with credit through the Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exams or college coursework taken while in high school
• Ten members of the 2004 class are starting the fall semester with enough credits to be sophomores, and 118 are considered second semester freshmen.
• The class includes four new National Merit Scholars and 21 Wisconsin Academic Excellence Scholars.
• Ninety of the new freshmen will join the university's Honors Program.

Majors

• About 30 percent of the class has not declared a major.
• Students who have chosen majors are relatively undecided about their major selection. When asked to list majors in which they are interested, 55 percent of declared students expressed an interest in a major other than the one they declared. When combined with the 30 percent of students who are undeclared, it indicates that about 70 percent of the students are uncertain about a major.
• Nursing and elementary education are the most popular majors this year. Of the new freshmen, 149 (10.5 percent)) declared nursing as their major, while 130 (9.2 percent) declared elementary education as their major.

Concerns of new freshmen

• Having enough money is cited as a concern of 58 percent of the freshmen.
• The next most frequently mentioned concern of freshman is uncertainty about major.
• Freshmen say they need help with study skills, time management and test taking.

Judy Berthiaume, Director
UW-Eau Claire News Bureau
Schofield 201
(715) 836-4741
newsbur@uwec.edu

Updated: December 28, 2004