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Florida Southern College admissions, enrollment up
New freshman class the second-largest in 20 years

LAKELAND, Fla. (Sept. 5, 2001) - Florida Southern College opened the 2001-02 academic year Tuesday with 679 new students, raising the total full-time undergraduate enrollment to 1,772. New resident students increased by 30 over last year. The college retains its student-faculty ratio of 16 to 1 with new faculty hires.

"We're pleased with our enrollment," said Florida Southern College President Thomas L. Reuschling, "We have about 100 more students than last year, and though students are still going through drop/add to square away their schedules, we anticipate a great year."

Of the 679 new students, 515 are freshman, making the class of 2005 the second-largest class in 20 years. This year is also the first time in 40 years Florida Southern has had two consecutive freshman classes of more than 500 students.

"Not only did we see an increase in new students, our freshman applications were up 12 percent this year, and transfer applications were up 38 percent," said Reuschling. "We've also improved our freshman retention by nearly 4 percent over last year. The programs we've instituted on campus have had a significant impact on that retention rate."

Last year, Florida Southern began a new program called First-Year Experience to assist new students who may have found it difficult to adapt to college life. The program offers one-on-one sessions with counselors and steers students to tutoring resources in writing, math and computers.

"The first year at college is a critical one for getting off on the right foot," said Linda Moser, director of First-Year Experience. "Sometimes students just need someone to talk to about their concerns, and that's exactly why this program was designed."

"We're looking forward to a very productive year," said Reuschling. "We achieved this enrollment increase with a strong recruitment effort and a total commitment from everyone at Florida Southern to retain our students and make them successful."

About Florida Southern College
Florida Southern is a four-year, private, co-educational liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The college offers more than 40 undergraduate majors and a master of business administration degree accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Located in Lakeland, Fla., the college is home to the largest, single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world.

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