Samford University announced the largest freshman class in the history of the institution with 972 enrolled first-year students. The total enrollment, which includes undergraduate and graduate students, is 5,683 students, with 3,672 undergraduate students and  2,011 graduate students.  The students represent 47 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and 19 countries.

“We are excited about a year of record enrollment for our freshman class. Our first-year retention rate is 91% and the entering freshman class is the largest in our history,” said Jason Black, vice president for enrollment management. “We are thankful for the trust our students and their families have in our institution.”

The record fall enrollment comes at a time of growing national recognition and expansion across academic programs at the university. Most recently, Samford was recognized as one of the best universities in the nation for undergraduate teaching. U.S. News & World Report ranked it as 66th in the nation on the Best Undergraduate Teaching list, placing it in the top 2% of colleges and universities in the country. It is the only university in Alabama to make this list. Samford is also ranked first nationally for Student Engagement, according to The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education.

To learn more about Samford or to find out more information about applying to the university, go to the Office of Admission webpage.