President's Perspective
Each Fall, Michigan State University welcomes a new freshman class to campus. Eventually most of these new students will become true Spartans, with strong loyalties to MSU. That feeling of connection—and of membership in the Spartan family—doesn’t develop during the first few days and weeks of classes. It develops, as do most strong and lasting relationships, over the course of time. It grows as students learn how much MSU can offer them, as they gain new knowledge and practical experience that will serve them for a lifetime. It also grows as they contribute to the quality of MSU, as they add their curiosity, their diverse interests and ideas, and their boundless energy to university life.
The undergraduate class of the year 2000 is the seventh that I’ve welcomed in my tenure as president, and already it is clear that it’s a class destined to make a difference. Consider these facts:
- The students arriving this fall come from an undergraduate applicant pool of some 22, 700—the most in MSU history.
- Today’s students have higher exam scores and high school grade-point averages than at any time in history. Their average GPA: 3.48. Average ACT composite: 23.9. Average SAT combined: 1127. That means that not only are more students than ever interested in MSU, but that more highly motivated, high-achieving students are interested.
- Today’s students come from diverse backgrounds and cultures, affirming MSU’s continued accessibility. A total of 740 international students applied for admission this year, compared to 564 last year, and 319 were admitted—38 more than a year ago. Ethnically, it’s a diverse class too; more than 19 percent of the incoming class are minority students, slightly higher than a year ago and again the highest in MSU history.
In all, roughly 6,800 undergraduates are beginning this fall to forge that lifelong connection with MSU. They’re doing so at a time when the university is changing at a pace faster, perhaps, than any in our 145-year history. Information technology is bringing opportunities to learn to the students’ desktops. More than ever, students are combining hands-on research with their classroom and lab work, and taking the results into the communities where they truly can have an impact, even before they earn their degrees and enter their chosen professions.
Please join me in welcoming our most recent Spartans to the proud and loyal MSU family.
Sincerely,
Peter McPherson, President
