Miami sees a record number of applications for incoming first-year class

Miami University is getting ready to welcome the class of 2026 after a record number of applications.

Brent Shock, vice president of enrollment management and student success, said more than 31,500 high school seniors submitted an application to Miami. Shock said the Office of Admissions is excited about this record number.

“It speaks to Miami’s strength as an institution, it speaks to Miami’s brand as an institution, and I think it’s a really great thing,” Shock said.

Out of the applicants, about 26,000 were admitted, and as of Aug. 15, 4,136 have enrolled.

Shock said the number of students enrolled will most likely decrease due to students that may decide to unenroll.

“Even though we have students that have said they’re coming to Miami, there’ll be some that change their mind here in the next few days,” Shock said.

On the fifteenth day of the fall semester, the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness will take a snapshot of the number of students who enrolled and that number will be used to set the number of students in the class.

Out of the students currently enrolled, about 2,500 are from Ohio, a little over 1,500 are out-of-state U.S. residents and around 100 are international students. The number of out-of-state U.S. residents is about a 1% increase from last year’s incoming class.

This year’s applicants came from all 50 states and more than 120 countries. Bethany Perkins, director of admissions, said the Office of Admissions has admitted the highest numbers of students of color, first-generation students and underrepresented minority students in Miami history.

“We’re really excited about the number of students that have been admitted to Miami who identify in those populations,” Perkins said.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Miami has not required students to submit ACT test scores with their application. Out of the scores submitted (by about 40% of all applicants), the average was a 27.

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The average high school GPA of applicants was a 3.88, which is up from the average of last year’s incoming class at a 3.84.

Shock said the students that have been admitted are talented and prepared for college academically.

“[Miami] is a challenging institution in terms of academics, and so we feel that the folks that we have admitted are very strong and gifted, and they will represent some of the very best high school graduates,” Shock said.

Cara Holthaus is one of many students who enrolled at Miami this year, and she's excited to participate in Prodesse Scholars.

Cara Holthaus, is an incoming first-year psychology major from Germantown, Ohio. Holthaus said she chose to attend Miami because it felt like the right fit for her.

“When I [visited], I loved the red brick campus, and I loved the environment there,” Holthaus said. “I visited some other colleges, and [Miami] was just the one that felt the best to me.”

Holthaus said one thing she is excited about is her acceptance into the Prodesse Scholars program under the nature and environment theme.

“I have a really big passion for the environment and nature,” Holthaus said. “I was scared I wouldn’t really be able to learn more about [the environment] in college [because I’m majoring in psychology].”

Shock said the Office of Admissions is excited about the incoming class because its staff has gotten to know incoming students.

“[The office] reads every single application, and they read top to bottom so they get to know the students that are coming to Miami pretty well, and there’s some amazing students from a broad diversity of backgrounds,” Shock said. “[We’re excited about] the strength of the class not only academically but in diversity and also geographically.”

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hogemh@miamioh.edu