Stieffel suggests that it lends itself to Loyola is becoming a more nationally and internationally recognized university. This year's class is also ethnically diverse. In fact it is one of the most diverse classes in Loyola's history. The class is 24.5 percent ethnic minorities with 10.9 percent Hispanic and 8.8 percent black. Although the freshman class of 1998 was 25.9 percent minority, the actual number of minority students is still larger than last year.
Freshmen are also religiously diverse, too.
While 57.5 percent is Roman Catholic, there has been a steady growth in the number of students of other faiths. Some 21.3 percent of freshmen are other than Roman Catholic, Protestant or Jewish. The number of Methodist, Presbyterian and atheist students, 4.2, 1.5 and 1.8 percents respectively, is the highest are the most since the university started tracking such numbers. According to an admissions office report, the average freshman scored 597 on the verbal and 569 on the math sections of the SAT and a composite score of 26 on the ACT, well above the national averages. She added that these freshmen statistics are not final, but just an overview of the freshmen who have enrolled as of early August.