Introducing the newest Blue Hens: The Class of 2005

On Aug. 25, some 3,450 freshmen will arrive at UD, ready to embark on an exciting and challenging new part of their lives, leaving high school behind.

"The students in the class of 2005 are outstanding," Fred Siegel, enrollment services, said. "This year's class has a record 390 students with a 4.0 high school grade point average, as compared to 297 last year. They also have higher average SAT scores–1161 compared to 1154 last year and 1145 in 1999.

"The number of valedictorians has risen as well, to 40, compared to last year's 31," he said. "The University's Honors Program continues to attract top students, with 484 freshman and 10 transfer students planning to participate."

This year's class contains 317 legacies, the sons and daughters of UD alumnae and alumni, with 99 of them the children of Double Dels (a term used when both parents are UD grads).

In addition, approximately 600 transfer students will be on the Newark campus, and 327 new freshman and nine transfer students have enrolled in the University Parallel Program.

This year's freshmen come mainly from Delaware (1,110), New Jersey (694), Pennsylvania (551), New York (519) and Maryland (252). There are 82 from Connecticut, 71 from Massachusetts, 51 from Virginia and 9 each from California, Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Also, 14 foreign countries are represented in this year's freshman class.

The average age of the new freshmen is 18, with the oldest freshman at 68 and the youngest at 16. The most common birthday is Feb. 18, shared by 18 freshmen.

In addition to the 16 sets of twins in the class, this year there is one set of quadruplets.

After several years of being the most popular name for women, Jennifer has dropped to second place, with Lauren taking the top spot. Michael has kept its long-held position as the most popular man's name, followed by Matthew.

The majority of freshmen (2,019) are enrolled in the College of Arts and Science. Among the other colleges, there are 415 freshmen enrolled in business and economics, 384 in human services, education and public policy, 312 in engineering, 207 in health and nursing sciences and 130 in agriculture and natural resources.

The 10 majors of choice are 331 in business administration, 189 in biological sciences, 154 in elementary teacher education, 134 in communication, 121 in psychology, 93 in computer and information sciences, 77 both in mechanical engineering and nursing, and 76 in art.

Statistics about the incoming students are subject to a slight change as the academic year gets under way. Official enrollment figures will be available in October.

–Sue Moncure