ANN ARBOR—Total student enrollment at the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus set a new record at 40,025 for fall 2006. The modest growth over 2005 enrollment was a result of growth at the undergraduate level, which also set a new record at 25,555.

Applications for new freshman admission rose 8 percent to 25,806, just short of the record set in 2003. Applications were up among all groups of students with the exception of African American students, who applied in fewer numbers and also made up a smaller proportion of the entering class than last year.

“The academic preparation of the students applying to Michigan has been outstanding. I’m gratified that so many terrific students value the excellent education available at our University,” said U-M President Mary Sue Coleman.

“However, our incoming class this year is not as diverse as we would like to see, and we have a great deal of work ahead of us to encourage a wider set of students to aspire to attend U-M. We must continue to let minority students know that they are welcome here and that every student admitted to our University is highly qualified.”

U-M’s yield rates show that it continues to be a popular school among many prospective students. At the same time as the number of applications soared over the past three years, the yield—the percentage of students admitted who decide to enroll—also has increased significantly. As a result, in 2004 and 2005 the University overshot its enrollment targets and accommodated two very large freshman classes of more than 6,000 students.

This year, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions adjusted to the rising yield rates and admitted fewer students in order to return to a more normal-sized freshman class. The entering class of 5,399 new first-year students was almost exactly in line with this year’s enrollment target.

“It is important that we come close to our enrollment targets so we can ensure the highest-quality educational experience for all U-M students,” said Provost Teresa Sullivan. “We have just as many spaces in our freshman class as we have in the past. But our admissions decision making must account for the tremendous popularity of our academic programs in recent years.”

Sullivan noted that the racial and ethnic makeup of the incoming class tends to vary widely from year to year depending upon the mix of highly qualified students in the applicant pool and the number of admitted students who accept U-M’s offer.

“The University does not have any set targets for enrollment of particular racial and ethnic groups. We seek to enroll a student body that is broadly diverse, but our ability to do that is dependent upon the mix of students who apply and those admitted students who choose to enroll.”

Theodore Spencer, associate vice provost and director of undergraduate admissions, said his staff continued its extensive outreach to prospective students around the state including several efforts aimed at encouraging minority students to apply. Those efforts included application workshops for prospective students and counselors, personal invitations by current students and U-M alumni, on-campus events to introduce students to the opportunities at U-M, and visits by President Coleman to African American churches and community events.

“We plan to continue these efforts in the coming months, and we are asking our alumni, our faculty and our current students to continue to partner with us so we can be as effective as possible in our outreach,” Spencer said.

According to Spencer, because this year’s incoming freshman class is considerably smaller than last year’s, the number of students from each ethnic group is smaller as well. Looking at the proportion of each group in the class is a better way to make comparisons from year-to-year, he said.

The 2006 entering freshman class included 330 African American students, representing 6.4 percent of the entering class. That is down from 7.5 percent last year but up from 6.1 percent in 2004. Enrollment of Hispanic and Native American first-year students was stable. The 274 Hispanic freshmen made up 5.3 percent of the entering class, the same as last year. A total of 52 Native American freshmen entered in 2006, unchanged at 1 percent of the class. An additional 622 Asian American students made up 12 percent of the entering class, down from 13.4 percent in 2005.

Lester P. Monts, senior vice provost for academic affairs, praised the outreach efforts and expertise of the Undergraduate Admissions staff. Unfortunately, he said, there is some evidence that the efforts to eliminate affirmative action have a chilling effect on applications from African American students. “We saw a trend of declining applications and enrollment of Black freshmen in the years immediately before and after the Supreme Court lawsuits,” he said. “Last year we recovered from those losses, but as we head into a very divisive public debate about the ballot proposal in Michigan, we again saw a sharp drop in applications from and enrollment of African American students.

“We must work harder to invite students from all backgrounds into our community, and let them know they are valued,” Monts said.

“Regardless of what happens with the ballot proposal, the University of Michigan will remain completely and fully committed to diversity,” Coleman said.

“Our work will continue to recruit and retain students, staff and faculty who come from a broad range of backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. We know from experience and from extensive research that our diverse academic community leads to a better teaching and learning environment, more effective problem-solving, more useful research and more inspired creative endeavors.”

In the total student body, 7.2 percent of enrolled students are African American, 5 percent are Hispanic, 1 percent are Native American, 13.3 percent are Asian American, 67 percent are white, and 6.6 percent listed other racial categories or did not indicate their race. Racial percentages are calculated using an adjusted total enrollment, which includes only U.S. citizens and permanent resident aliens.

International student enrollment grew slightly, with 4,388 students from foreign countries enrolled this fall compared to 4,361 in 2005.