Last week heralded a new beginning for nearly 1600 students starting their academic journey at Michigan Tech. Here are a few facts about this year’s entering class:
- Applications for undergraduate and graduate education were both at all time highs with over 22,000 undergraduate applications and over 33,000 graduate applications.
- Michigan Tech enrolled a freshmen class on par with the last two years, making these last three classes the largest since the early 1980s.
- Female enrollment continues to grow, positioned to be the largest number of women in Michigan Tech’s history. This also holds true for domestic ethnicity/racially underrepresented students.
- New undergraduate students come from 35 states with the largest out of state class Michigan Tech has ever seen. Illinois is now our second largest out of state population after Wisconsin. This is followed by Minnesota and Texas.
- Academic credentials of this class are aligned with the last two years making these three classes the most academically talented in institutional history (as measured by GPA).
It’s no surprise that our excellent academic programs are driving unprecedented interest from our students at a rate outpacing national trends. This is certainly boosted by the latest Wall Street Journal rankings, which named Michigan Tech 16th overall among U.S. public universities on the WSJ’s list of Best U.S. Colleges 2024.
As our student population grows, so does our campus infrastructure. The H-STEM Engineering and Health Technologies Complex is nearing completion. Renovated space will be used as classrooms and learning labs. The addition will house high-tech, flexible laboratory spaces, teaching labs, offices, and common areas that will meet current industry standards for safe operation and the training of students.
And, soon we will break ground on a new 512 bed residential building located on the east side of campus. This is in addition to several renovation projects underway including classroom and teaching lab renovations, new gym equipment in the Student Development Center, and elevator replacements. We are also delighted to announce the addition of Alumni Way, thanks to the generosity of one of our donors.
Our corporate partners have also embraced this growth, proven by the unprecedented 391 companies that are registered to participate in Michigan Tech’s career fair later this month, and another 18 companies on the waiting list.
As companies look to make excellent hires at Michigan Tech, I have the honor of working with two excellent individual student leaders worthy of an introduction. Mason Krause serves as the 2023-24 undergraduate student body president and Karlee Westrem was elected to serve as the graduate student body president. I met them both and am excited to support their efforts this year.
I am delighted to work with them and the many other faculty, staff, alumni and donors who share the same passion for Michigan Tech. It’s through our shared commitment that we are able to achieve such remarkable results. Thank you for your support of our fine institution.
Sincerely,
Rick Koubek
President
