The University of Alabama in Huntsville set records for the fall semester for total enrollment, undergraduate and graduate students combined, as well as the size of its freshman class. At the same time, this incoming freshmen class at UAH also had the highest average ACT score in the school’s history.

Summary of Fall 2017 UAH freshman class:

Total enrollment: Record with 9,101 students, up 633 or a 7.5 percent increase when compared to the Fall 2016. This is the third year in a row that UAH has set a record for total enrollment.

The freshman class contains 1,345 students, a double digit increase of 10.6 percent when compared to the same number last year.

This incoming class scored an average of 27.9 on their ACT, highest in UAH’s history and an increase from 27.6 a year ago.

50 percent of this class scored 4.0 or higher on their high school GPA and the overall average GPA was 3.85.

More than a third (36.5 percent) scored 30 or higher on their ACT examination.

The outstanding attributes of UAH students, combined with their campus education, laboratory opportunities, and hands-on experiential possibilities, provide UAH students with a tremendous preparation for the workplace.

"The quality of our faculty and the opportunity to conduct hands-on research and gain practical experience through internships enhances the knowledge of our students and helps develop their skills. UAH students are very well prepared upon graduation and are highly qualified to enter the workforce," said UAH President Robert Altenkirch. "It’s becoming increasingly important that students view their choice for college as an investment. Prospective students are coming to realize that a diploma from UAH provides them with great value."

UAH has been cited by several sources as a good educational opportunity. The most recent report by the Brookings Institution stated that UAH graduates earn the highest average salaries among Alabama institutions and are in the top 2 percent in the nation. That report confirms a similar report by OnlineCollegesDatabase.org, which said UAH graduates have the best starting salaries when compared to any university in Alabama. PayScale.com reported UAH offers one of the highest returns on tuition investment in the southeastern U.S. and top 8 percent nationally.

UAH is also recognized for its academic quality and research opportunities for its students. The campus is considered very competitive by the Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges, one of only two public universities in Alabama with that distinction. UAH is also classified as a high research institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

The university is consistently listed among national Tier 1 universities by U.S. News & World Report, putting UAH among the top 4 percent among the nation’s 2,600 public universities.