Morehouse College in Atlanta, one of the nation’s most prestigious historically Black colleges, has announced that it has the largst entering class in the history of the educational institution. The 973 new traditional and online students represent an increase of 70 percent when compared with fall 2020. The 701 traditional residential students in the new student group is a 23 percent increase from fall 2020 and includes 637 first-time freshmen and 64 transfer students. The group also includes the inaugural class of 272 non-traditional men in Morehouse’s online degree completion program, with an average age of 39.
The spike in first-year enrollment was driven in part by a 17 percent growth in prospective residential student applications from fall 2020 and substantial growth in the yield rate of accepted students. The fall 2021 first-time freshman class of traditional students represents an increasingly selective cadre, with an average grade point average of 3.51, compared with average GPAs of 3.33 and 3.28 for the fall 2020 and fall 2019 classes, respectively.
“Morehouse continues to find new ways to extend our uniquely transformative experience to more talented students,” said David A. Thomas, president of Morehouse College. “This record Fall 2021 class demonstrates our proficiency in elevating our historic mission, while at the same time, adapting to leverage technological advances and changes in the way we engage with each other in order to meet the contemporary needs of our students, including their need to be valued, heard, and celebrated for their brilliance.”
“This past year posed many unprecedented opportunities and challenges in recruiting the best and the brightest students to become the next class of men of Morehouse,” added José Mallabo, vice president for strategic marketing, communications, and admissions. “By integrating marketing with admissions and combining data-driven approaches, innovative technology, and digital tools with traditional approaches to engaging students around the country, we were able to surpass many of our goals for this incoming class in terms of its size, diversity, and academic strength.”
