Largest Entering Class in New College’s History Begins 2014-15 Academic Year

Classes began Monday, Aug. 25, at New College of Florida with 284 new students on campus, the largest entering class in college history.
That includes 240 freshmen, known at New College as first-years, and 44 transfer students. Both groups also are believed to be the largest in college history. They also may be one of the brightest classes New College has ever seen.
“We have a stellar entering class,” said Kathleen M. Killion, dean of enrollment services and information technology.  “The average high school GPA for our new first-year students is over 4.0, perhaps the highest in the College’s history.”
That typical GPA reflects how most New College students receive bonuses from their high schools for taking Advanced Placement courses.  New College students tend to excel in their high school classes.
Of students whose high schools calculated class rankings, 43 percent of New College’s first-years were in the top 10 percent of their graduating class.
The incoming students also are more diverse than most previous classes. Almost one in four comes from states other than Florida, and eight are from foreign countries. That includes five members of the inaugural class of New College’s Daughters for Life Scholars, women from the Middle East attending on full scholarships, sponsored by the college and the Daughters for Life Foundation.
New College’s admissions staff had early indications that a large incoming class was on the way. “I figured when we had to have three pizza places deliver for our admitted student event in March that we were in for a remarkable year,” said Mitch Finer, director of enrollment. “We are truly excited to welcome such a talented and diverse group of students.”
The first-years and transfers also may be the most tech-savvy  in College history.” According to a survey conducted during orientation, 98 percent brought a laptop computer, compared with 90 percent the previous year, and 91 percent brought either an iPhone or an Android smart phone, compared with only 70 percent last year.
New College has about 850 students, but over one 24-hour period last week, there were 1,405 unique active Wi-Fi devices on the college’s residential network. “Our students are most certainly poised to use our new virtual computing labs!” Killion said.
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Contact: David Gulliver, News Services Manager, 941-487-4154, [email protected]
New College of Florida is a national leader in the arts and sciences and is the State of Florida’s designated honors college for the liberal arts. Consistently ranked among the top public liberal arts colleges in America by U.S. News & World Report, Forbes and The Princeton Review, New College attracts highly motivated, academically talented students from 38 states and 20 foreign countries. A higher proportion of New College students receive Fulbright awards than graduates from virtually all other colleges and universities.