UCF student body population at record high

UCF has surpassed 60,000 students this semester, a record for the university, and it has also attracted a slew of freshman National Merit Scholars.

The 2012-2013 freshman class is about as statistically impressive as last year’s, according to numbers from UCF Today. Out of the 241 National Merit Scholars at UCF, 67 are first-year students, down from 74 freshman scholars last year.

UCF has made the ranks of 50 universities nationwide that have the most National Merit Scholars for three years in a row, including this year. Altogether, there are 15,000 scholars across the nation who earn the title by competing in a scholarship program that receives upwards of one million applications annually.

The average SAT score of this incoming freshman class is 1244 without the writing section and 1831 with the writing section considered. The SAT average for the fall 2011 freshman class was 1249 without the writing section.

The incoming class’ average GPA is 3.9, compared with last year’s freshman class average of 3.85.

UCF’s fall 2012 student body count totaled 60,048, and out of that number, 39 percent are minorities — a nearly 12 percent increase compared with the university’s population 10 years ago.

The student body population is up from last year’s 58,698 students.