Arizona State UniversityTEMPE, AZ (CBS5) -
Arizona State University has reached a record 73,373 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled for the fall semester, the school said on Thursday.
The figure tops last year's 72,254 fall enrollment by 1,119 students and represents an increase of more than 5,300 students over fall 2009.
ASU's new undergraduate student enrollment has topped 16,450 students for the first time in university history, school officials said.
The academic preparation of the 2012 full-time freshman class is at an all-time high, too, with a mean high school grade point average of 3.47, ACT composite of 24.5 and SAT composite (for math and critical reading) of 1129.
Still another milepost has been attained. International student enrollment at ASU has hit record levels - more than 5,160 total - up from 3,856 just two years ago, a 34 percent increase.
Other figures released Thursday show the Sun Devils are more multicultural, with 39 percent of the freshman class coming from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds, up from 24 percent eight years ago.
While the majority of ASU's students are resident Arizonans, 37 percent of the freshman class has been attracted to ASU from another state or country, up 2 percent from last year, the school said.
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