West Virginia University will begin the fall semester Monday, Aug. 20, not only with record-breaking enrollment, but with significant, measurable signs that the quality of student enrolling at the University is also increasing.

Officials say preliminary enrollment on the Morgantown campus for the fall semester will be 27,500, an increase of approximately 400 students from fall 2006marking the sixth consecutive record enrollment at the states flagship university. Of those 27,500 students, nearly 4,700 will be freshmen. These numbers are in line with the Universitys 2010 strategic plan.

Along with enrollment, the number of new National Merit finalists attending WVU this fall is at an all-time high; Honors College enrollment is steady; and the academic profile of first-year students has increased.

More and more of the brightest students from all over the state and across the country are choosing WVU ,President-elect Mike Garrison said.This University is a special place. We change peoples lives for the better. And the more that people learn about WVU , the more they want to be Mountaineers.

A record-setting 29 new National Merit finalists plan to attend the University this fall, bringing the total number of finalists on campus to 61 and National Merit Scholars to 84. This surpasses the previous high in 2004 when 20 new National Merit finalists entered WVU .

The National Merit Scholarship Program awards those high school students with the highest Preliminary SAT /National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test grades in the nation with national recognition and college scholarships. From over 1.4 million students that apply, only around 15,000 are recognized as National Merit finalists.

WVU also is expecting approximately 1,300 new PROMISE scholars on campus this fall. Combined with upperclassmen, the total number of PROMISE scholars on campus this fall semester is expected to exceed 4,000making WVU the largest benefactor of the PROMISE program in the state for several years running.

The number of students in the Honors College also continues to hold steady with about 400 in this years incoming class, pushing the overall enrollment to 1,500-1,600.

The quality of students is quite remarkable; its gone up each year over the past three years,said Dean of the Honors College Keith Garbutt, adding that he had to turn away students who might have been accepted in previous years.Its not unusual for a student to come with up to 30 hours of college credit or a 4.3 GPA .

Additionally, the freshman class at WVU is one of the most academically qualified in the history of the University, officials said, with increases shown in college entrance testing scores and overall grade-point average.

This is an indication that students from West Virginia and nationally recognize the quality of a WVU degree and are choosing to further their education and prepare for their careers with us,said Provost Gerald Lang.This is a credit to our faculty and the programs they deliver.