After receiving 17,834 applications for the class of 2025, Elon University will welcome 1,600 freshmen to campus this fall. Vice President for Enrollment Greg Zaiser calls this year’s class, “smart, motivated and eager to be at Elon.”

Elon received 2,528 more applications than last year, and similar to the class of 2024, 19% of incoming freshmen are students of color. The male to female ratio for the class of 2025 is 41% male to 59% female, also similar to last year’s numbers. 

The university saw an increase in the number of first-generation students, a 30% increase from last year to this year.

“Our relatively recent membership in the Common Application, and even more recent adoption of a test-optional admissions policy, makes Elon more accessible for students who might not have applied because we did not accept the Common App or believed admission was too selective, given our SAT/ACT mid-ranges,” Zaiser wrote to Elon News Network. 

Freshman Derick Donato was accepted into Elon’s musical theatre program, one that Donato noted is nationally renowned for its outcomes. Being an international student from Puerto Rico, Donato also said he noticed the university’s effort of bringing in more diversity.

“Elon has always been a dream school of mine,” Donato said. “I am very impressed by the school’s initiatives to promote inclusivity and diversity.”

The Boldy Elon Strategic Plan also plays into the university’s efforts of diversifying the student body, according to Zaiser. 

“We have strategic plans for the recruitment of all students and are in the process of hiring an associate dean for diversity and access. That is a reimagined position that will serve as part of our diversity and access recruitment team with an assistant director,” Zaiser wrote.

Maggie Holeman, an incoming first year student from Durham said that she always had Elon in her sights. 

“I knew I wanted to attend Elon after going to a volleyball camp in sixth grade hosted by Elon’s team,” Holeman said. 

With plans of majoring in strategic communications, Holeman said she fell in love with the community-oriented campus. Holeman also feels both excitement and hope for the first-year experience. 

“I’m also a little nervous about moving away from home and being on my own,” Holeman said.

Hope Christopulos, an incoming nursing student from New Jersey, said she is excited about experiential learning and new facilities available to students at Elon.

“Everything at Elon will be state of the art,” Christopulos said. “Elon is one of the few institutions that has human cadaver labs built into the learning experience.”

Even though virtual programming allowed the Office of Admission to strategically cater to more students, Zaiser stressed the importance of in-person programming. 

“Virtual programming allows us to reach more students but on campus visits are critical to convey the value and benefit of Elon,” Zaiser wrote. “It’s very important for recruitment to be able to have students visit. Virtual is not going away but neither can in-person experiences.”