San Diego State Begins ‘Extraordinary New Era of Growth’
As Students Return to Campus for Start of Fall Term

Contact: Renee Haines
SDSU Marketing & Communications
Office (619) 594-4298
rhaines@mail.sdsu.edu

SAN DIEGO, Tuesday, August 23, 2005 – This week’s formal convocation to start the 109th academic year for San Diego State University also will mark the beginnings of “an extraordinary new era of growth” facing San Diego’s largest and oldest university.

Classes begin August 31 for this year’s approximately 33,431 students attending the main San Diego State campus (32,488) and San Diego State’s Imperial Valley campus (943).

Of a record 49,000 applicants for the 2005-2006 academic year, more than 8,400 new undergraduate students were accepted. About 4,300 of the new students are incoming freshmen with an average GPA of 3.5 and an average SAT score of 1077. “This is one of the best academically prepared and diverse freshman classes we’ve ever had,” said Ethan Singer, associate vice president for academic affairs.

The university is awaiting approval of a 20-year Campus Master Plan calling for new programs, buildings, housing and other improvements “to ensure continued access to a high-quality education for our increasingly diverse state,” said San Diego State President Stephen L. Weber. “We must embrace an extraordinary new era of growth for San Diego State.”

San Diego State also is reporting higher freshman retention rates each year, with new reports for the latest year available (the fall 2003 class) showing an 82.6 percent one-year continuation rate for freshmen. “It’s one of our highest ever,” Singer said. “That, coupled with increasing average course loads of our freshman students, portends well for significantly higher four-year graduation rates.

Weber will join Provost Nancy Marlin on Thursday to lead an All-University Convocation, which also will honor nine university professors with the university’s highest annual award for Outstanding Faculty Contributions in teaching, research and community service. Weber also will address a New Student and Family Convocation on Aug. 28.

San Diego State also will welcome 52 new faculty members this fall and 10 new department chairs. In the past year, the university also has welcomed a new dean of students (Darlene Willis), a new athletic director (Jeff Schemmel), and a new dean of the College of Health and Human Services (Marilyn Newhoff, formerly serving as interim dean.)

Weber’s convocation remarks this week also will address the future demands on higher education in a state where the college-age population is expected to increase by more than 800,000 in the next 20 years.

This summer’s opening of a new trolley stop and underground station at San Diego State reflects the growth already under way at a major urban research university reporting a 7 percent increase each year in just the numbers of applications.
In addition to completion of the five-year construction of the new trolley line and underground station at San Diego State, the university’s new state-of-the-art BioScience Center will open later this year. Incoming students also will benefit from 27 new “smart” classrooms now equipped with the latest interactive technology.

The university’s new Tennis and Softball Complex was completed earlier this year, and a new Arts and Letters building and student-funded swimming pool is expected to open next spring. Also under construction is a new Student Health Services building. A major fundraising campaign is under way for a future Alumni Center.

San Diego State University is the oldest and largest higher education institution in the San Diego region. Since it was founded in 1897, the university has grown to offer bachelor’s degrees in 81 areas, master’s degrees in 72 areas and doctorates in 16 areas. SDSU’s nearly 33,000 students participate in an academic curriculum distinguished by direct faculty contact and an increasing international emphasis that prepares students for a global future. For more information, visit www.sdsu.edu.

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