Contact: Funda Alp, 203-396-8241, alpf@sacredheart.edu

For Immediate Release
September 7, 2007

SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY WELCOMES LARGEST, MOST ACADEMICALLY ACCOMPLISHED CLASS IN 44-YEAR HISTORY

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – With 965 incoming students, the Class of 2011 ranks as the largest freshman class in Sacred Heart University’s 44-year history, according to figures from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. The students were admitted from a pool of over 8,000 applicants, also the largest in SHU history.

In addition to its size, the class is also distinguished by its academic and social accomplishments: 20 percent ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school classes, 10 percent served as presidents of their high school senior classes, and 85 percent have contributed significant time and energy to community service.

“I think it’s wonderful,” said Karen Guastelle, SHU’s dean of Undergraduate Admissions. “I’m pleased with the success we’ve had—not only because it was our largest applicant pool ever, but also because this is the most academically talented class in our history. It’s a tribute to the University's tremendous growth and recent achievements as well as the great support we receive from guidance counselors and independent counselors locally, regionally, and nationally.” 

The Class of 2011 is also the most diverse class since the University’s transformation to a residential campus in 1990.  Twelve percent of SHU’s new freshmen are members of minority groups.  Students hail from 32 states and 13 countries, and twenty-six percent are Connecticut residents.

About Sacred Heart University
Sacred Heart University, the second-largest Catholic university in New England, offers more than 40 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs on its main campus in Fairfield, Connecticut, and satellites in Connecticut, Luxembourg and Ireland. Approximately 5,800 students attend the University’s four colleges: Arts & Sciences; Education & Health Professions; University College; and the AACSB-accredited John F. (Jack) Welch College of Business. The Princeton Review includes SHU in its “Best 366 Colleges: 2008,” U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges 2008” ranks SHU among the best master’s universities in the North, and Intel rates it #11 among the nation’s most “unwired” campuses. SHU fields 32 division I athletic teams, and has an award-winning program of community service. www.sacredheart.edu

For additional Sacred Heart University news, please visit http://www.sacredheart.edu/pressroom.cfm.