The University of Alabama broke its previous student enrollment records with the Fall 2022 class, school spokespeople announced Monday morning.

Shane Dorrill, UA's assistant director of communications, said 38,645 students are enrolled this semester, narrowly topping the previous record of 38,563, which was set in 2017.

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The quality of students is also better than ever, with 1,088 National Merit Scholars studying at UA, including a record-breaking 322 freshmen Scholars.

“The University of Alabama experience is continuing to draw diverse, talented students from all over the state, nation and world,” said UA President Stuart R. Bell. “As high achieving students graduate and begin their careers or further their education, they demonstrate the incredible value of a UA degree. The many who do so by remaining in Alabama are critical to growing and strengthening our local and state economies.”

Dorrill said the new freshman class includes around 3,000 in-state students, marking the fourth consecutive year of growth in that metric.

Dorrill said the new class includes students from all 67 counties in Alabama, all 50 states and 88 counties.

The new class is also extremely diverse, and Dorrill said more than 8,500 students who identify as racial or ethnic minorities will study at the Capstone this year, including higher-than-ever numbers in the Freshman class.

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