Record number of freshman students expected in Indiana University despite Covid-19 crisis

Bloomington, Indiana – Despite the pandemic and recent surge in Covid-19 cases across the state, Indiana University expects record freshman class before the start of the new student year.

Students seem to be happy to finally return to in-person classes following the difficult pandemic student year.

“We are super excited to be welcoming them back to campus,” David Johnson the university’s Vice Provost of Enrollment Management said.

According to the latest data, IU expects record freshman class.

“We had a 50% increase in academic scholarship offers to students that’s, that was our strategy to really go strong at supporting students,” said Johnson.

He added that the college will have 9,300 freshmen this fall which is more than 17% increase since last year. This has been the highest number of new students and a new record for the IU.

There are multiple factors that affected this trend, but the fact that IU is going back to in-class teaching seems to be the most important for students.

“The interest and returning to a more normal and typical college experience. The great value and experience at IU offers to students. And really, I think the test-optional admissions strategy also played into helping students think about IU if they felt like maybe their test scores didn’t reflect their full academic ability,” Johnson said.

What is even more important for him is the fact that the average GPA for new students is almost the same as last year’s GPA.

“Their GPA is, you know nearly equal to last year, which is a phenomenal statement given the challenges that they faced,” said Johnson.

Johnson pointed out that he is happy to see the latest GPA results claiming students also managed to average good results during the pandemic year in the university. He said the technology played major role in making everything possible and keeping the teaching process ongoing despite the pandemic.

IU was among the first universities country wide to require masks, vaccines and other measures for students, faculty and staff. Although students are not very happy with the latest decision, these measures will surely make the university much safer place for everyone.

To see COVID policies for some other universities in our area click here.