UM enrollment rises, led by out-of-state students

As the University of Michigan works to diversify its study body, the number of out-of-state students is closing in on the ranks of students from Michigan on the Ann Arbor campus.

On Wednesday, UM released its annual enrollment summary that showed 48,090 undergraduate and graduate students were enrolled in fall 2019. That's a 3% increase over fall 2018 enrollment of 46,716.

UM said it received a record number of applicants, including a 10% increase in students whose families earn less than $75,000 since the fall 2018 launch of the Go Blue Guarantee — which offers four years of free undergraduate tuition to qualified, in-state students from Michigan families earning $65,000 annually or less. .  

"This year, more than 22% of new in-state undergraduates are from families with incomes below $65,000," said UM's enrollment release. "Of those students, more than 88% are paying no tuition as a result the Go Blue Guarantee and other loan-free institutional financial aid."

According to data from U.S Department of Education FAFSA reports that UM provided, the undergraduate student population from low-income families hovered around 15% in 2018: 8% of students came from families with incomes of $25,000 or less and 7% came from families with incomes of $25,001-$50,000.

During that same time period, 65% of students came from families earning $150,000 or more, or didn't apply for financial aid.

This fall, Hispanic students lead the underrepresented racial and ethnic groups overall and among new freshmen, making up 7.74% of total enrollment and 8.35% of new freshmen. African American students make up 4.99% of the total enrollment and 3.51% of new freshmen.

The number of out-of-state students continues to grow, and in some cases eclipses in-state students.

Overall, 24,080 students are from Michigan and 24,010 students are from out of state. Last fall, UM had 23,795 in-state students and 22,921 out-of-state students.

Broken down, undergraduate and new freshmen exceed out-of-state students. In-state undergraduate students numbered 16,653 versus 14,613 out-of-state students. Among new freshmen, in-state students total 3,496 while out-state students number 3,334.

But new undergraduate transfer students from out of state number 676, trumping 602 in-state student transfers.

Out-of-state graduate and professional students also eclipsed in-state students, as they have for years: 9,397 out-state versus 7,427 in-state.