Chancellor Gary A. Thibodeau attributed the increase to numerous influences, but most notably to the reputation of the strength of academic programs and the expertise of the faculty who deliver them, in addition to the University's and community's inviting atmosphere. Admissions Director Alan Tuchtenhagen noted that those factors stand out when prospective students and their parents visit the campus and River Falls. The River Falls area has some very positive aspects. We are in an ideal location. We have a beautiful campus in a beautiful town, and this is a very supportive community for our students.
Families pick up on that right away when they visit.
He explained that the campus' faculty and student population size provides enough mass for comprehensive offerings in over 40 majors, while the intimacy of small classrooms and the campus' culture invites the building personal relationships between students, faculty and staff. Enrollment numbers also are impacted by the campus' location within the Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minneapolis-St. Those two factors have led the University to project an enrollment growth to an estimated 6,000 students in the next few years. This year's freshman class is one of the largest and brightest in the institution's history. Its 1,210 members have an average ACT test score that is higher than the state and national averages, averaging 22.68, and nearly 90 percent graduated in the top half of their high school classes.