Orientation

Welcome Students!

As the 2012-2013 academic year gets under way, here’s a look at the Elmhurst students who are heading to classes and settling in to campus life this week.

About 550 students make up the first-year class, according to preliminary figures—54 percent are women, 46 percent men. The group is highly diverse, with one-third coming from traditionally underrepresented groups. While 84 percent of the first-year class hails from Illinois, the rest come from 23 other states, including California and Florida.

About 95 percent of incoming students are receiving some form of financial aid, including scholarships, grants, loans and work-study opportunities; the average award is $26,560.

The group also continues a trend at Elmhurst of enrolling students who are very well-prepared academically: The average ACT score is 24 and the average high school GPA is 3.45. The most popular majors among the freshmen are business, education and nursing.

Enrollment also has benefited from a strong showing by transfer students—expectations are that the College will enroll about 309 transfer students this year. Altogether, about 2,800 full-time undergraduates are on campus.