The University of Michigan received over 115,000 first-year and transfer student applications for the fall 2025 term, a record number for the University. About 109,000 first-year students applied, an almost 11% increase from 2024. Application numbers for first-generation students, international students, students of Color and students from self-reported low-income backgrounds have also risen. Transfer student applicants, on the other hand, have fallen, with 6,157 applications, a 2% decrease from 2024. However, transfer applications increased among in-state students, first-generation students, students of Color and students from self-reported low-income backgrounds.
In an email to The Michigan Daily, University spokesperson Kay Jarvis wrote that increased applications have made the admissions process more competitive.
“At the University of Michigan, we have seen a large increase in application volume,” Jarvis wrote. “As application volume increases, acceptance has become more competitive and the admit rate has decreased for both first-year and transfer applicants.”
In an interview with The Daily, Michael Bastedo, School of Education professor and associate dean, said decreasing birth rates in the Midwest may impact enrollment at smaller colleges, but is less likely to impact enrollment at the University and similar institutions.
“The number of people being born in the Midwest is in decline, and as a result, we’re going to see declines in the numbers of high school graduates,” Bastedo said. “Now there’s a deep concern that there could be issues with enrollment at the college level unless we increase the percentage of students who go to college. Because the demand for places like the (University) are high and only increasing at the moment, we wouldn’t necessarily expect these demographic issues to be crucial for this institution in particular. But there are other institutions where the demand is not quite as high and that’s where we expect problems.”
Bastedo said parents of applicants may not realize the sudden and rapid shift in admissions selectivity that comes with increased applications.
“People who might have applied 10 or 20 years ago and would have been admitted easily to the University — that’s no longer true,” Bastedo said. “I think that is something that’s hard for people to get their heads around sometimes. They might be alumni of the (University), and now their children are applying, and they’re surprised to find that their children haven’t been admitted, and they’re having to look at other options. This change in selectivity has happened so rapidly that it’s been a little head-spinning for a lot of families, both in and out of the state.”
In an interview with The Daily, director of the Adan Hussain, Kessler Scholars Program, which supports first-generation college students, said the increased number of first-generation applicants and the spread of the Kessler Scholars Program to other universities is indicative of growing support for first-generation students in higher education.
“We’re seeing this focus on first-generation students happen across higher education,” Hussain said. “For example, the Kessler Scholars Program started at the (University) in 2017. It then, because of its success, spread to 16 other institutions by 2022. Even our program has spread across the nation. Students are hearing about this program knowing that it’s for first-generation students.”
Hussain said having more first-generation students on campus makes it easier for them to find peers that share their experiences.
“(Being first-generation) is the type of identity where you don’t know who else is first-gen, unless you’re wearing a T-shirt that says ‘I’m first-gen’ or ‘I am a Kessler scholar’,” Hussain said. “If people aren’t bringing up those experiences, it can feel isolating. To have a critical mass where it’s easier to find other first-generation students and it’s more normal to bring that experience up, I think it normalizes that andI think it makes the (University) feel more welcoming and a place where students who are first-gen do belong.”
LSA senior Princess-J’Maria Mboup, member of the University’s Black Student Union, told The Daily that working as student staff in the Center for Educational Outreach has helped her show prospective students, specifically Black students, how to find community at the University.
“Showing students how they could come here and find a sense of belonging, find community and really thrive here has been really helpful in making people feel like they have a space here and that they belong,” Mboup said. “The University can be an isolating place for a Black student. It can be a harmful place. It often has been and continues to be.”
Mboup said BSU’s current four-point platform, which was released in 2022, outlines demands for Black student enrollment that the University has not yet met.
“There have been historic demands from Black students to get Black enrollment to 10%, which was mirroring the percentage of Black students in the state of Michigan,” Mboup said. “While the explicit number was 10%, it should accurately reflect the student or the Black population in (the University). I believe that’s about 14% right now, anything less than that is not satisfactory. With the implementation of DEI 1.0 and 2.0, we’re seeing an increase in Black student enrollment, but until that 14% is reached, the University’s still not honoring their commitment.”
Daily Staff Reporter Thomas Gala-Garza can be reached at tmgala@umich.edu.