Largest freshman class has fewer black students

Enrollment on the Bloomington campus is up on the whole, but the number of black students in this year's freshman class has dropped significantly, according to figures IU released Thursday.\nThe 7,259 members of this year's freshman class make the largest incoming class ever, topping the 2002 record of 7,080. Last year's freshman class comprised 6,949 students.\nThe number of minority students enrolled in this year's freshman class is up overall, but the number of black students dropped from 412 students to 345.\n"Last year we had a big increase in the number of African-American students enrolled," said IU Director of Media Relations Larry MacIntyre. "We were unable to sustain that, but this is the third largest class ever."\nBlack students enrolled as freshmen in 2006 have an average SAT score 27 points higher than last year.\nEnrollment for other minority groups is up. Asian-American enrollment rose from 237 students to 277, Hispanic enrollment increased from 146 students to 166, and American Indian enrollment rose from 19 students to 23.\nIn May, the IU board of trustees unanimously passed an initiative to double the number of minority students enrolled at IU by the start of the 2013-14 school year, according to a May 8 Indiana Daily Student article. \n"Across the board we are reaching out to a large number of minority students," MacIntyre said. "Our goal is to find students who might think they can't go to IU, who don't think they have the money or don't think they can meet the admissions standards and get them earlier prepared for IU."\nMacIntyre said the program is specifically targeting inner-city high school students in Gary and Indianapolis.\nThis year's freshman class also has the highest average SAT score of any recent class. On average, students this year had an SAT score of 1,121 -- 10 points higher than last year, while the average national SAT score dropped seven points this year, according to The College Board, which administers the test.\nThere are also more valedictorians and National Merit Scholars in this year's freshman class. The number of valedictorians rose from 116 in 2005 to 123 this year, according to a press release. The number of National Merit Scholars increased from 52 to 63 for the incoming class.\nMacIntyre said this is in line with IU's plans to raise admissions standards over the next few years.\n"A student who won admission here two years ago might not be admitted today," he said.\nStill, raising admissions standards will not conflict with IU's goal of doubling minority enrollment. Traditionally minorities tend to score lower on standardized tests, according to several national studies.\n"SAT scores are a factor but not the deciding factor," MacIntyre said. "For minority students, the most important thing is not necessarily SAT scores, but how well they'll do at IU, if they take the classes in Core 40 and if they get good grades in high school"