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2020 Insight

A look at UVA’s incoming class, by the numbers

August 18, 2016 — Digital Exclusive

The University of Virginia’s Class of 2020 moves onto Grounds this weekend, preparing for Tuesday, the start of classes and their college careers.

This class comes from the largest application pool in UVA’s history, notes Gregory Roberts, UVA’s dean of admission. In addition, the school saw a dramatic increase in students whose parents don’t have college degrees. “This class is extremely diverse in terms of socio-economic and racial diversity,” he says. “While we still have work to do, efforts made to recruit students who come from under-served backgrounds—particularly in Virginia—have been successful.”

Take a look at this class in the context of 22-year trend lines—by race, by gender, by geography and by several other categories too. The data come from the University’s Office of Institutional Assessment and Studies and the photos are from this summer’s first-year orientation sessions. Mouse over the charts and click on the maps to get more information.

An orientation leader gathers his group on the Lawn

Application, offer and enrollment counts

Special populations as percentages of first-year enrollment

Low-income:
The student’s family income, as calculated by institutional methodology, is less than or equal to 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
Students with need:
The student submitted a FAFSA to the federal government and his/her UVA budget was greater than the expected family contribution that was calculated from the FAFSA.
First-generation:
Neither parent has a college degree.
Incoming students gather on the Lawn

Enrollment by gender

Enrollment by school

Several students sitting and talking on the Lawn

Enrollment by race

NOTE: Prior to 2009, students were only given the opportunity to list themselves in one racial category. Starting in 2009:

  1. Students of mixed race/ethnicity were encouraged to report their race/ethnicity in more than one category.
  2. The Asian/Pacific Islander category was split into two new categories: (1) Asian, and (2) Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander.
  3. Hispanic was considered to be an ethnicity, separate from the other racial categories.

The University is required to report students in only one category in order to avoid duplication. Trumping rules are used to determine in which categories to count students of mixed race/ethnicity:

  1. Any student who is a non-resident alien foreign student is counted as non-resident, no matter his or her race or ethnicity. (This was not a new rule in 2009.)
  2. A student who did not give any race/ethnicity information is designated “Unknown.”
  3. Any other student who is of Hispanic ethnicity is counted in the Hispanic category, no matter what other race he or she may have reported.
  4. Any student who listed more than one race, and is not of Hispanic ethnicity, is counted in a new category called “multiple race.”
  5. All remaining students, those who chose only one racial category (and are not of Hispanic ethnicity), are put into that category.

Source: George Stovall, Office of Institutional Assessment and Studies

A father and daughter share a laugh at Alumni Hall

Average SAT scores

Enrollment by residency

A student talking with their group

Enrollment by Virginia municipality

No municipality selected

Click a municipality to view its history

Enrollment from outside Virginia

No state selected

Click a state to view its history

Enrollment from outside the United States

No country selected

Click a country to view its history

Orientation students and leaders gathered in Old Cabell Hall