Rose-Hulman is preparing to welcome a record first-year class for fall 2021. The more than 620 first-year students arriving August 27 to begin orientation activities is expected to be over a 15% increase to last year’s class. They will join approximately 1,500 returning students for the start of fall quarter classes September 2.

This year’s incoming class will arrive from 38 states and countries such as China, India and South Korea. Special recruitment and marketing efforts have helped to increase students from Indiana, the Chicagoland area, and California.

“Rose-Hulman is an institution with a growing national and international reputation. That fact continues to be reflected in our new student recruitment efforts,” said Tom Bear, vice president for enrollment management. “More students are being attracted to the distinctive qualities of our hands-on education, within a caring campus community of world-class faculty and dedicated staff, that develops graduates with unique problem-solving abilities.”

Other characteristics of the projected 2021-22 incoming class are:

• The second largest group of female students (157), representing 24% of the first-year students
• Record enrollment of Hispanic and Asian students
• Approximately 30% of the incoming class is racially or ethnically diverse
• Over 500 high schools are represented in this first-year class from around the nation and the world

Several other items making Rose-Hulman more attractive include:

• Increased scholarship and financial aid opportunities, including the new Noblitt Scholars program, a $10 million merit and leadership scholars program supported by alumnus and Board of Trustees Chair Niles Noblitt and his wife Nancy.
• The new Rose Squared (R²) program, which allows eligible students to earn a Bachelor of Science in their major and a Master of Engineering Management in a four-year period.
• No tuition increase for the 2021-22 school year, which helped families impacted by COVID-19 economic uncertainty.
• A number of other targeted scholarship initiatives through donor support of the successful Mission Driven Campaign for Rose-Hulman, including the Mussallem Scholars program to support students from northwest Indiana and the Chicagoland area.
• The $29 million New Academic Building, with its 70,000-square-feet of design studios and state-of-the-art chemistry, biochemistry and food science laboratories. There also are flexible classrooms and spaces for collaboration and innovation across many academic disciplines in this new facility.