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As First-Year Students Move to Campus, Monmouth University Begins New Academic Year.

First Year Students: At a Glance

The incoming first-year class is our most geographically diverse ever with one-quarter coming from out of state. The top five states sending students to Monmouth are:

  1. New York
  2. Pennsylvania
  3. Maryland
  4. Connecticut
  5. Massachusetts

Five first-year students reside in Texas, though none of them are from the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Harvey.

In case anyone thinks they are seeing double, they might be. The Class of 2021 features four sets of twins!

The most popular name in the first-year class is Michael, followed closely by Emily. Samantha is the year’s third most popular name, and Christopher and Nicholas tied for fourth. Other popular names in the class include: Nicole, Matthew, Lauren, Joseph and Alexa.

Monmouth University begins its academic year on Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017 as members of the Class of 2021 move into the university’s residence halls. Returning and upper class students move into on-campus housing the following day and classes will begin on Tuesday, Sept. 5.

Vice President for Student Life and Leadership Engagement Mary Anne Nagy expects around 950 first-year students and their parents and families to fill the residential quad on Sunday as students settle into college life.

In recent years, more and more students from outside of the region have considered Monmouth University, its transformative educational programs, broad extra-curricular offerings and proximity to the urban centers of New York City and Philadelphia in a prime location only one mile from the beaches of the Atlantic Ocean..

Approximately one-quarter of students in Monmouth’s freshman class are coming to Monmouth from states other than New Jersey, the highest number in the university’s history and positioning Monmouth as a national mid-sized university.

Taking advantage of the university’s 32 undergraduate programs and low 13-to-1 student-teacher ratio, overall enrollment is expected to be at approximately 6,200 students with approximately 4,500 full-time undergraduates. The final tally will not be available until later in the semester.

One of the reasons for the steady enrollment in an era when other colleges and universities in the state are seeing significant declines in population, administrators surmise, is the significant investment the university has made in its physical plant over the last decade. Modern classrooms and laboratories enhance both the learning experience and the vibrant, up-to-date feel of the campus. The university’s science complex is entering the final phase of a multi-year renovation scheduled to be completed by the end of the semester. It will see the science programs at Monmouth being taught in some of the most state-of-the-art facilities in the region.

In fact, Monmouth University is one of the nation’s best institutions for undergraduate education, according to the Princeton Review, which features the university in the new 2018 edition of its college guide, “The Best 382 Colleges,” released last month. This is the 13th year the university has been featured.

Additionally, U.S. News & World Report’s annual list of “Best Colleges” has featured Monmouth as one of the top 40 schools in the “Regional Universities North” category for four straight years. Monmouth is also featured in Money Magazine’s “Best Colleges for your Money 2017.”