ENROLLMENT FACTS

For a complete overview of fall 2012 enrollment, download the Enrollment Summary 2012 booklet.

Fall 2012 Enrollment Overview

DePaul remains, for the 15th consecutive year, the nation's largest Catholic university with a total student enrollment of 24,966. This is consistent with last year, down just 432 students (less than 2 percent) from the record enrollment in 2011.

Students registered for a total of 301,705 credit hours in fall 2012. Seventy-eight percent of these credit hours are generated by undergraduate courses and 22 percent by graduate and law courses.

DePaul's fall 2012 total enrollment by college is as follows:

• 26% in the Driehaus College of Business (BUS)
• 17% in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (LAS)
• 15% in the College of Computing and Digital Media (CDM)
• 13% in the College of Science and Health (CSH)
• 8% in the College of Communication (CMN)
• 8% in the College of Education (COE)
• 7% in the School for New Learning (SNL)
• 4% in the College of Law
• 1% in the School of Music
• 1% in The Theatre School

University Enrollment

DePaul's total enrollment of 24,966 students represents a diverse student body in terms of ethnicity, gender and other demographics.

• 56 percent are students under 24 years of age
• 53 percent are female
• 33 percent are students of color
• 5 percent are international students (on F1 and J1 visas)

DePaul's total enrollment of 25,398 represents a diverse student body in terms of ethnicity, geography and other demographics. A total of 53% are women. Thirty-two percent are students of color. Students under 24 years of age account for 54% of enrollment.

Undergraduate Enrollment
The largest-ever undergraduate class of 16,498 students enrolled this fall, up 1 percent from 2011. Undergraduate enrollment continues to grow as a share of total enrollment, accounting for 66 percent of total enrollment in 2012, up from 65 percent in 2008.

Graduate Enrollment
Graduate enrollment is at 7,544 students, down 5 percent from 2011, and accounts for 30 percent of university enrollment.

Law Enrollment
In 2012, the College of Law enrolled 924 students, a reduction of 10 percent from 2011. Law enrollment accounts for 4 percent of university enrollment.

Undergraduate Enrollment

DePaul enrolled 16,498 undergraduates this fall, surpassing the previous record of 16,384 students in 2011--an increase of 5 percent from the 2008 class five years ago.

Full-time enrollment has increased by 7 percent compared to 2008, while part-time enrollment has declined by 7 percent. Eighty-three percent of all undergraduates are full-time, up from 74 percent 10 years ago. All colleges have more than 87 percent full-time undergraduate enrollment, with the exception of SNL, which is mostly part time (90 percent).

A total of 12,598 undergraduates (76 percent) are under age 24. Twenty-four percent of undergraduates (3,886 students) are 24 years of age or older, consistent with 2008. SNL enrolls 14 percent of all students ages 24 to 29, and 68 percent of students age 30 and older.

Freshman Enrollment

DePaul welcomed a record class of 2,593 new freshmen in fall 2012, which is 5 percent larger than last year's class of 2,458 students.

By Academic Profile
The freshman class of 2012 is strong on all measures of academic preparedness. The average high school GPA--the best predictor of academic success at DePaul--is the highest ever at 3.58, compared to 3.46 in 2008. Twenty-three percent of freshmen graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school class.

In 2012, the average ACT composite score of all DePaul freshmen is 25.2,* with the middle 50 percent of the class scoring between 23 and 28. Nationally, the average ACT composite score is 21.1.

By College
The largest proportion of freshmen are enrolled in BUS, which grew by 4 percent from 2011. CSH and CDM experienced the most growth from 2011 to 2012, up 28 percent and 26 percent, respectively.

Test-Optional Pilot Program
Fall 2012 is the first term that freshmen were admitted to DePaul through the Test-optional Pilot Program, which allows students to complete their DePaul application and submit a series of short essay questions instead of standardized test scores. A total of 121 freshmen enrolled through the test-optional program across all of DePaul's colleges.

The average high school GPA for test-optional freshmen is 3.71. Seventy-one percent of these students had high school GPAs of 3.50 or above.

*ACT scores in 2012 include averages for students who applied through the Test-optional Pilot Program and submitted scores post-admission for research purposes.

By Gender, Ethnicity and International Status
The fall 2012 freshman class is 44 percent male; this is the highest proportion since 2006. Thirty-four percent of the freshman class are students of color.

This fall, DePaul's freshman class included:

• 452 Hispanic/Latino students (17 percent)
• 179 Asian students (7 percent)
• 133 African-American students (5 percent)
• 103 students from multiracial/non-Hispanic backgrounds (4 percent)
• 100 students from unreported backgrounds (4 percent)
• 3 Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander students (0.1 percent)
• 1 American Indian/Alaska Native student (0.04 percent)
• 1,556 Caucasian students (60 percent)

In addition, 61 freshmen (2 percent) are international students (on F1 and J1 visas), up from 37 students in 2011 and 23 students in 2009.

By Geography
In fall 2012, DePaul's five top feeder states for enrolled out-of-state freshmen are Michigan, California, Ohio, Wisconsin and Minnesota. The 920 out-of-state freshmen come from more than 680 high schools throughout the nation, up from just over 600 high schools in 2011.

Of freshmen from Illinois, the top three feeder high schools are:

• Lane Technical College Prep High School (Chicago)
• Adlai E. Stevenson High School (Lincolnshire)
• Maine South High School (Park Ridge)

In addition, a total of 295 freshmen, or 11 percent, come from Chicago Public Schools. The top three high school feeders are:

• Lane Technical College Prep High School
• Northside College Prep High School
• Whitney Young Magnet High School

First-Generation Freshmen
Enrolling this fall are 794 freshmen from families where neither parent has a college degree. First-generation students represent 31 percent of the freshman class.

By College: These students are enrolled in all colleges with the largest proportion in BUS (28 percent), followed by CSH (24 percent) and LAS (21 percent).

By Race and Ethnicity: Of all first-generation freshmen, 45 percent are Caucasian and 32 percent are Hispanic/Latino. Put a different way, of all new freshmen, 23 percent of Caucasian students and 57 percent of Hispanic/Latino students are first-generation college students.

By Geography: Nearly half (49 percent) of this year's first-generation students come from suburban Chicago. Fifty-six percent of all new freshmen from Chicago are first generation.

Freshman Admission Trends

DePaul received 18,160 applications for fall 2012, a 9 percent increase over 2011 and a 40 percent increase from 2008. A total of 1,866 students applied through the Test-optional Pilot Program.

By College

• CSH received the most applications at 4,656, or a quarter of all applications in 2012, up 38 percent over last year.
• Applications to all colleges increased this year with the exception of LAS, where applications declined 17 percent from 2011.

By Race and Ethnicity

• Applications increased across nearly all racial and ethnic groups. Applications from Hispanic/Latino students increased by 18 percent; applications from Asian students increased by 12 percent; and applications from African-American students increased by 3 percent.
• International applications (of all visa types) also increased by 46 percent in 2012, though this remains a small proportion of the overall applicant pool at 4 percent.

By Geography

• As in 2011, 41 percent of applications came from out of state. California jumped from the fifth largest sender of out-of-state applications in 2008 to the largest in 2012 with 959 applications, followed by Michigan and Ohio.
• Suburban and city of Chicago applications accounted for 32 percent and 21 percent of the pool, respectively.

Freshman Retention and Graduation Rates

Returning in fall 2012 for their sophomore year are 85.2 percent of the fall 2011 full-time freshmen, down slightly from 86.4 percent of the prior year's freshman class.

One of the most significant trends is the steady increase in four-year graduation rates over the past five years. This year, the four-year graduation rate for the 2008 freshman class was the highest ever at 55.9 percent, up from 43.0 percent for the 2003 class.

Of the fall 2006 full-time freshmen, 68.0 percent had graduated from DePaul six years later, up slightly from 67.0 percent for the 2005 class.

Degrees Granted

From 2007-08 to 2011-12, DePaul awarded 19 percent more degrees, with a 25 percent increase in bachelor's degrees, an 11 percent increase in master's degrees and a 21 percent increase in law degrees. Doctoral degrees, although small in numbers, increased by 16 percent.

BUS and LAS together awarded half of the bachelor's degrees last year, with 32 percent and 19 percent, respectively. Another quarter of the degrees were awarded by CMN (13 percent) and CSH (12 percent).

Thirty percent of bachelor's degrees were awarded to students of color. The largest proportion of bachelor's degrees awarded to Asian-American and Hispanic/Latino graduates were from BUS (60 percent and 34 percent, respectively) and the largest proportion awarded to African-American graduates was from SNL (27 percent).

Time to Degree
A total of 1,938 bachelor's degree recipients in 2011-12 entered DePaul as freshmen and took four years and one quarter, on average, to complete their degree. Bachelor's degree recipients who entered as transfers (1,257 students) took, on average, three years and one quarter to complete their degree in colleges other than SNL, and SNL transfer students (186 students) took five years.

Master's degree recipients completed their degrees in an average of three years, although this varied by college. Graduating master's students in Music and CMN took two years on average to complete their degrees, SNL master's students took four years, and students in the remaining colleges took three years on average.

Transfer Enrollment

Enrolling in fall 2012 are 1,738 new undergraduate transfer students, up 13 percent from 2008. A 12 percent increase in transfer enrollment in BUS to 445 students made it the college with the largest transfer enrollment. Together with LAS and CSH, these three large colleges account for 62 percent of all new transfers.

The highest proportion of new degree-seeking transfer students enrolled in CMN (45 percent), followed by BUS (40 percent) and LAS (38 percent). New transfer enrollment in SNL, where all new students enter as transfer students, declined 19 percent from 2011 to 2012.

In 2007, the VISION twenty12 strategic plan focused additional emphasis on transfer enrollment. This fall, transfers account for 40 percent of new degree-seeking undergraduates, compared to 38 percent in 2008.

By Gender, Ethnicity and International Status
Similar to 2011, half of all new transfers are male (52 percent) in 2012, compared with 46 percent in 2008. In 2012, 40 percent of new transfers are students of color, compared with 33 percent in 2008, and 34 percent of new freshmen in 2012. This fall, DePaul transfers included:

• 311 Hispanic/Latino students (18 percent)
• 172 African-American students (10 percent)
• 134 Asian students (8 percent)
• 108 students from unreported backgrounds (6 percent)
• 62 students from multiracial/non-Hispanic backgrounds (4 percent)
• 7 Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander students (0.4 percent)
• 2 American Indian/Alaska Native students (0.1 percent)
• 873 Caucasian students (50 percent)

In addition, 67 transfers are international students (on F1 and J1 visas), accounting for 4 percent of the new transfer class, compared to 34 students in 2011.

By Geography
DePaul remains a top destination for transfer students in Illinois. Illinois community colleges are the leading source of new transfer students, accounting for 58 percent of all transfers in fall 2012. A smaller percentage come from Illinois' private institutions (8 percent) and public universities (5 percent). In addition, 28 percent transferred from out-of-state institutions and 1 percent transferred with credit for equivalent experience.

Of the 1,005 transfer students from Illinois community colleges:

• 69 percent are from suburban Chicago
• 69 percent are under 24 years of age
• 43 percent are students of color

The top three community colleges sending students to DePaul together account for 40 percent of new transfer enrollment from community colleges:

• College of DuPage (Glen Ellyn)
• William Rainey Harper College (Palatine)
• Oakton Community College (Des Plaines)

By Age
Traditional-Age Transfers: For the second consecutive year, the percentage of new transfers under 24 years of age has increased. Seventy percent of transfers are under 24, up from 66 percent in 2009.

• 96 percent enrolled full time
• 36 percent are students of color
• 29 percent are enrolled in BUS and another 25 percent are enrolled in LAS

Adult Transfers: The 513 transfers who are 24 years of age or older represent 30 percent of this year's new transfer students. Of these students:

• 58 percent enrolled full time
• 48 percent are students of color
• 38 percent enrolled in SNL, 17 percent
• in BUS and 15 percent in LAS

Transfer Admission Trends

Demand for admission to DePaul from the transfer and adult market has grown by 22 percent from 2008 to 2012 as the result of the university's successful recruitment, innovations in transfer admission and advising, and strong market position and prominence. Applications have grown annually from 2008 to a record high in 2012. New enrollment also grew by 13 percent.

By College

• BUS received the most applications at 1,300, or 24 percent of all transfer applications in 2012, up 13 percent over last year.
• CDM displayed the strongest growth with a 25 percent increase in applications from 2011. CSH and CMN also saw an increase in applications, up 12 percent and 8 percent, respectively.

By Race and Ethnicity

• Applications from students of color accounted for 41 percent of all applications and increased by 4 percent from 2011.
• Applications increased from students from almost all racial and ethnic groups. Applications from Hispanic/Latino students accounted for the largest percentage of applications from students of color, at 17 percent of all applications in 2012, and increased by 12 percent over last year. Applications from African-American and Asian students increased by 1 percent and accounted for 13 percent and 7 percent of applications, respectively.
• Applications from Caucasian students accounted for 49 percent of all applications and were steady from 2011 to 2012.
• International applications (from students of all visa types) increased by 48 percent, though this remains a small proportion of the overall applicant pool at 4 percent (248 applications).

By Age

• Applications from students under 24 years of age (73 percent of all applications in 2012) increased 6 percent from 2011. Applications from students ages 24 to 29 increased by 3 percent. Applications from students age 30 and older decreased by 10 percent.

Graduate and Law Enrollment

In fall 2012, a total of 7,544 graduate students enrolled (excluding law). This is down 5 percent from the 2011 class of 7,983 students, but comparable to the class five years ago. A total of 94 percent of all graduate students are master's degree students, another 3 percent are doctoral students, 2 percent are in certificate programs and 1 percent are non-degree seeking.

In 2012, 60 percent of all graduate students are enrolled full time, taking eight or more credit hours per quarter, up from 57 percent in 2008. Full-time graduate enrollment varies by college. The colleges whose graduate enrollment is primarily full time include Theatre (100 percent), CMN (77 percent), KGSB (67 percent), COE (67 percent) and CSH (65 percent). The largest proportion of part-time graduate enrollment is in SNL (94 percent).

By Race and Ethnicity
One quarter (26 percent) of graduate students are students of color (1,994 students), a 25 percent increase from 2008. African-American graduate enrollment accounts for the largest proportion of students of color at 11 percent.

A total of 946 graduate students are international students (on F1 and J1 visas), accounting for 13 percent of graduate enrollment. International student enrollment increased by 20 percent from 2011, and has increased by 52 percent from 2008.

By Age
The proportion of graduate students who are under 24 years of age has increased to 14 percent, up from 10 percent in 2008. KGSB, the college enrolling the most graduate students in 2012 at 28 percent, increased its proportion of graduate students younger than 24 years of age from 5 percent in 2008 to 21 percent in 2012.

Doctoral Enrollment
In 2012, DePaul enrolled 264 doctoral students, compared with 270 students in 2011. Ninety-three doctoral students are enrolled in CSH, 86 students in COE, 46 students in LAS and 39 students in CDM. Nearly one-third (31 percent) of all doctoral students are students of color. Doctoral enrollment accounts for 3 percent of all graduate enrollment.

Law Enrollment
The College of Law welcomed 318 new law students this fall for a total enrollment of 924 students, a reduction of 10 percent from 2011. Of the law students:

• 80 percent are enrolled in the day program (79 percent in 2011)
• 51 percent are female (46 percent in 2011)
• 46 percent are from out of state (45 percent in 2011)
• 29 percent are under 24 years of age (29 percent in 2011)
• 22 percent are students of color (22 percent in 2011)

New Master's Enrollment

This fall, a total of 1,717 new master's students enrolled, down 8 percent from 2011 and up 5 percent from 2008. KGSB and CDM new master's enrollment grew over last year (1 percent and 9 percent, respectively), and Theatre remained stable. New master's enrollment in the other colleges declined. As a result, KGSB and CDM account for a larger percentage of new master's enrollment in 2012 (55 percent), up from 48 percent in 2011. Seventy-nine percent of new master's students in fall 2012 are enrolled full time, compared to 78 percent in 2011.

By Diversity
New master's students enrolled in fall 2012 are a diverse group:

• 56 percent are female (58 percent in 2011)
• 43 percent are between ages 24 and 29, and 35 percent are under age 24(44 percent and 33 percent, respectively, in 2011)
• 25 percent are students of color (23 percent in 2011)

This fall, new master's students included:

• 164 African-American students (10 percent)
• 124 Hispanic/Latino students (7 percent)
• 90 Asian students (5 percent)
• 90 students from unreported backgrounds (5 percent)
• 46 students from multiracial/non-Hispanic backgrounds (3 percent)
• 4 Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander students (0.2 percent)
• 2 American Indian/Alaska Native students (0.1 percent)
• 845 Caucasian students (49 percent)

This year, 20 percent of new master's students, or 340 students, are international students (on F1 and J1 visas), compared to 18 percent in 2011 and 12 percent in 2010. Three in four international students (75 percent) enrolled in KGSB; forty-four percent of all new master's students in KGSB are international students. Another 17 percent of new international master's students enrolled in CDM.

By Geography
Of the 1,717 new master's students:

• 35 percent are from the city of Chicago (39 percent in 2011)
• 31 percent are from suburban Chicago (29 percent in 2011)
• 23 percent are from out of state (21 percent in 2011)
• 8 percent are from international locations (8 percent in 2011)
• 3 percent are from other locations in Illinois (3 percent in 2011)

Diversity

In 2012, DePaul enrolled 8,157 students of color, an increase of 2 percent (or 126 students) from 2011 despite a slight decline in total enrollment during this time. Students of color account for 33 percent of total enrollment, 36 percent of undergraduate enrollment, 26 percent of graduate enrollment and 22 percent of law enrollment.

International Students
In total, 1,324 students have international status (on F1 and J1 visas), up 24 percent from 2011, with increases in international undergraduate (up 30 percent), graduate (up 21 percent) and law student enrollment (up 47 percent). Consistent with last year, about a quarter of international students are undergraduates and three quarters are graduate and law students. International students represent 5 percent of total university enrollment, up from 4 percent in 2011.

Undergraduate International Students
A total of 350 international undergraduates enrolled across all of DePaul's colleges. These international undergraduates come from more than 60 countries, with the highest concentration of students from China (25 percent) and Saudi Arabia (12 percent). Sixty percent are men. About half of all international undergraduates are enrolled in BUS.

Graduate and Law International Students
A total of 974 international graduate and law students enrolled in 2012. These international students come from more than 70 countries, with 60 percent from China and another 14 percent from Saudi Arabia. More than half (58 percent) of international graduate and law students are women. Seventy-one percent of these women enrolled in BUS compared to 37 percent of international men. Conversely, CDM enrolled 48 percent of international men, but only 13 percent of international women.

DePaul Locations and Credit Hours

Credit Hours by Location
Nearly half of all credit hours have been generated at the Lincoln Park Campus over the past five years. The hours generated at the Loop Campus have increased by 6 percent during this time and remained at about 43 percent of the total hours. Credit hours generated by online courses have grown 70 percent, or from 4 percent of total hours in 2008 to 7 percent in 2012.

Online Students and Credit Hours
A total of 4,234 students registered for online courses, including 2,642 undergraduate and 1,515 graduate students. A total of 84 percent are continuing students and 39 percent are enrolled part time. This is a 5 percent increase from 2011 and a 25 percent increase from 2010. Of the students registering for online courses this fall, 1,823 students are enrolled exclusively online and not simultaneously enrolled in other campus-based courses. Forty-three percent are in CDM graduate programs and 28 percent are in SNL undergraduate programs.

National Comparisons

DePaul is the largest private, not-for-profit university in the Midwest and the 11th largest private institution nationally. DePaul has been the largest Catholic university in the nation for 15 consecutive years, having exceeded St. John's University in total enrollment in 1998 and in undergraduate enrollment in 2007.

From 2003 to 2012, the 10 largest Catholic institutions grew by 12 percent, or 18,042 students. DePaul grew by 6 percent, or 1,356 students. While enrollment at the 10 largest Catholic institutions held steady from 2011 to 2012, on average, St. John's University, the second largest Catholic institution, had the largest one-year increase among these institutions (4 percent). Six of the ten institutions, including DePaul, had declines in enrollment from 2011 to 2012, ranging from 2 percent for Marquette University and Loyola University Chicago, to 1 percent or less for Boston College, Saint Louis University and Fordham University.

Sources: Institutional Research & Market Analytics (IRMA): Including the Enrollment Update Report for Autumn 2012, Registration Activity Report for Autumn 2012, DePaul University Survey of Catholic Institutions 2012, DePaul University Survey of National Private Institutions 2012, Fact File, Fall 2012 Enrollment File, IRMA Retention Database and 2012 Admission files.