Kent State University continues its Centennial celebration with news of its highest recorded enrollment in the university's 100-year history. Kent State announced a 7.56 percent increase in enrollment for the Fall 2010 Semester across its eight campuses with the release of the university's official 15th day census data.

For the Fall 2010 Semester, Kent State reports 41,365 students. This is up from 38,457 students for the Fall 2009 Semester. Unduplicated (or preponderant) headcount at the campus in Kent is 25,848, and the unduplicated headcount for the Regional Campuses is 15,517. Students are counted only once at the campus at which they hold a majority of their course load.

"More and more, people are coming to Kent State and recognizing us for what we are - the leading public research university in Northeast Ohio," says Kent State University President Lester A. Lefton. "We continue to advance our Excellence Agenda, which includes ensuring student success and enhancing academic excellence and innovation. We're attracting and retaining excellent, high-quality students to Kent State's eight-campus system.

"Last year was an incredible growth year, and we've continued the momentum with our second largest freshman class following last year's record breaker," Lefton continues. "The quality of this freshman class is even better. While ACT average scores have dropped nationally, we're seeing an increase here at Kent State."

Highlights from the fall 2010 enrollment numbers also include:

• Enrollment at the Regional Campuses is up by 11.73 percent, setting an all-time high and surpassing the previous high set in fall 2009 with 13,888
• Freshman enrolled students at the Regional Campuses is up 12.32 percent
• Enrollment of international students is up 26.42 percent
• Student retention on the campus in Kent holds at 78.60 percent
• Diversity of students, particularly among the AALANA (African-American, Latino-American and Native American) population, is up 16.32 percent
• Graduate enrollment has increased 4.21 percent

"Our fall 2010 enrollment numbers also indicate that we're seeing an increase in out-of-state students," says Robert G. Frank, Kent State's provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. "This number went up by 15.29 percent this year. The university and its reputation are reaching students near and far - locally, regionally, nationally and internationally - who value what Kent State can offer them."

T. David Garcia, Kent State's associate vice president for enrollment management and student affairs, says that the university had the highest applicant pool in its history. "More than 15,000 people applied to Kent State this fall," he says. "We're seeing more applicants thanks to the hard work of our faculty, staff and members of our Admissions Office. We've increased our campus visit program and had more outreach to new areas. We worked hard on meeting Dr. Lefton's goals of increasing three key areas: out of state, diversity and quality of student."

Kent State's Student Financial Aid Office saw an 8.25 percent increase in the amount of total financial aid offered from last year, up $775,978,571 in 2010 compared to $716,890,937 in 2009. The number of federal financial aid applications also increased, up 9.5 percent from a year ago.

Despite a struggling economy, the university was able to report a record-breaking fundraising year for the second year in a row this summer. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010, private contributions to the public research institution reached $39.9 million, beating last year's record by nearly $3 million. Kent State also was recently ranked in the coveted first-tier list of Best National Universities in the 2011 edition of Best College by U.S. News. It was the only public university in Northeast Ohio to make the first-tier list.

Kent State's eight campuses are located in Ashtabula, East Liverpool, Geauga, Kent, Salem, Stark, Trumbull and Tuscarawas. For more information about Kent State, visit www.kent.edu.

For the full fall enrollment report, go to www.kent.edu/rpie/enrollment.