Posted on September 18, 2002 at 9:47 a.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Total fall 2002 enrollment at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) increased by 6 percent over the previous year, from 14,695 to 15,579. Undergraduate enrollment rose 5.5 percent, from 9,954 to 10,501; graduate enrollment rose 8.76 percent for the same period, from 3,766 to 4,096.

“UAB’s growing enrollment in both graduate and undergraduate programs is reflected across campus,” said UAB President Carol Garrison, Ph.D. “Today’s students want a university that excels not only in relaying knowledge from generations past, but one that also involves them in cutting-edge research that creates knowledge. They find both at UAB.”

Freshman enrollment saw a 13.1 percent increase over last year with 1,471 students in the 2002 entering class. The average age of incoming freshman is 18.8 years, continuing a trend at UAB toward more traditional-aged students.

“In the past few years, UAB has become more and more a school of choice,” said UAB Vice President for Student Affairs Virginia Gauld, Ph.D. “Attending college in the largest city in our state provides a wide array of opportunities for students, from internships to entertainment. I think this is one of the primary reasons we are seeing a continuing growth in enrollment of traditional-age students here at UAB.”

Of the total enrollment at UAB for fall semester, 29.8 percent are minorities and 58 percent are women. Of that total enrollment, African-Americans make up 25 percent. Undergraduate African-American enrollment is 30.3 percent, up slightly from 2001, and mirroring the state’s population.