Yearly Overview

The past year was full of change, as new leadership introduced an exciting new era for Indiana University. Pamela Whitten, our 19^th president and the first woman to lead IU, completed her first year. We also welcomed Provost and Executive Vice President Rahul Shrivastav as the chief academic officer for IU Bloomington. We look forward to the new directions their leadership will take us at IU.

We were pleased to have the opportunity to return to many of our regular pre-pandemic modes of recruiting, enrolling, and serving students at Indiana University. This included bringing back in-person events and services both on- and off-campus while continuing many virtual offerings.

It was especially gratifying to welcome admitted students and their families back to campus for our Red Carpet Days. We were also delighted to orient our new class during our first on-campus New Student Orientation since 2019 and to give current students even more ways to take care of the business of being a student with the return of in-person services at Student Central.

As always, our amazing OEM team has shown their dedication and creativity in achieving our mission to transform students’ lives through access, engagement, and support, while striving to become the most innovative enrollment management team in the nation.

From the start, the new class surpassed our expectations. We received a record number of applications this year—exceeding 50,000 for the first time in campus history. From these applications, we’ve welcomed a beginner class whose 9,736 students make it the largest beginner class ever. IU Bloomington will once again be home to more beginner Indiana residents than any other university campus with 5,043 Indiana residents.

Our second year of being test-optional allowed 45 percent of the beginning cohort to opt out of test score consideration and gave all students the ability to decide how best to tell their academic story. The academic stories our students told were impressive—on average they had a record 3.89 high school GPA and 37 percent of them had a 4.00 on a 4.00 scale.

This class impressed us academically across a range of metrics, with 5,258 beginner students receiving an OEM academic scholarship—the most ever and a 16 percent growth over last year. 36 percent of those who received an OEM academic scholarship also had demonstrated financial need, allowing us to make college more affordable for some of our most academically gifted students. The academic readiness of our beginner class is also reflected in impressive numbers of direct admits—5,502, or a 3 percent growth over last year—and beginners in the Hutton Honors College—1,816, or a 14 percent growth over last year.

The number of students receiving gift aid continues to increase as we work to support academic excellence and access to an IU education. This year over 70 percent of the beginner cohort will receive gift aid, including scholarships and grants, to support their enrollment at IU. And, we continue to draw qualified students who would otherwise be unable to pursue a college degree, with more than 1,500 Pell Grant recipients, 500 21st Century Scholars, and 260 Pell Promise award recipients.

IU Bloomington continues a decade of growth in enrolling historically marginalized students. Nearly 1,700 historically marginalized students enrolled this fall. The campus also welcomed over 900 first-generation students.

Finally, this year marks the fifth consecutive year that all 92 Indiana counties are represented in the beginner class. We are also welcoming students from 48 states, plus Washington, D.C., and citizens of 45 countries, helping to create a more geographically diverse student population.