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SUNY Plattsburgh Welcomes Academically Strong Freshman Class


SUNY Plattsburgh is preparing to welcome its most diverse and selective group of freshmen since the college began tracking that information in 2000.

The mean high school average for SUNY Plattsburgh’s Class of 2015 is 88.5, up from 87.6 last year. Additionally, 46.9 percent of this year’s freshmen are merit award winners, up from 36 percent last year. Once again, the college had to turn away more than half of the freshmen applicants. The acceptance rate for freshmen was 48 percent.

As far as diversity goes, 22.5 percent of this year’s freshman class — not including international students — identify themselves as students of color. This is up from 20.2 percent last year and 17.2 percent in 2009.

Meanwhile, the number of new international student remains strong as well. This year, more than 95 members of the incoming class hail from other countries. The majority of these students come from China, Canada, Japan and Korea, but representatives from around 60 countries will be in the overall mix at the college this fall.

“We keep getting better at recruiting and retaining students,” SUNY Plattsburgh President John Ettling said. “Once again, we’ve exceeded our enrollment goals, and our graduation rates continue to climb.”

In addition to the nearly 1,000 new freshmen, more than 600 students are transferring into the college. Most of them come from Clinton, Adirondack, Hudson Valley and North Country community colleges, according to Richard Higgins, associate vice president for enrollment management and director of admissions.

While many may arrive on campus for the first time this Saturday, hundreds of them are already talking to one another.

"An interesting factor about the entering freshman and transfer student class is that 1,517 students and staff are already communicating with each other via the college's prospective student 2011 Facebook page,” Higgins said.  “You can truly sense the excitement about this new beginning for them all."

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