Enrollment has increased more than 80 percent since 1986, with the freshman class exceeding 700 for the past several years. Xavier students are nurtured in the type of environment available only at a small college. Most Xavier freshmen spend nearly twice as many hours in class in math and science courses as do their counterparts at other colleges and universities. Students are encouraged to work together in study groups. Introductory workbooks, particularly in the sciences, aid in the transition from high school to college, while tutoring and counseling are always available.
Opportunities exist for students to participate in relevant research under faculty mentors.
All students are encouraged to supplement their Xavier experience by serving internships or attending summer programs at other colleges and universities. Xavier's undergraduate curriculum is centered in the liberal arts, with all students required to take a core of prescribed courses in theology and philosophy, the arts and the humanities, communications, history and the so-cial sciences, mathematics, and the natural sciences, in addition to more intensive work in their respective majors. More than half of Xavier's students currently major in the natural or health sciences, especially in biology, chemistry, and pharmacy. Other popular majors include business, psychology, mass communications, political science and computer science. Xavier has educated nearly 25 percent of the 6,000 Black pharmacists practicing in the United States.