Recently released statistics show this year’s freshman class as the most competitive and diverse the University of Wisconsin has ever seen.

“This freshman class gives us a great deal to be proud of,” Rob Seltzer, director of admissions, said in the release. “The entire university will benefit from the contributions from this class … We’ll continue to strive to increase the numbers of students of color coming to [UW].”

A report released by the Office of the Registrar shows the incoming freshman class this year to be of high student value. A contributing factor to this is standardized testing results. According to a UW release, ACT scores average 27.6, compared to a national average of 20.9. SAT scores averaged at 632, while the national average is 513.

The report also shows more than half of admitted students graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school classes.

A little more than 5,500 new students were accepted out of approximately 21,000 applications, showing interest in the university is consistently high, according to Paul Barrows, UW vice chancellor of student affairs.

“We’re pleased [with the student interest], but we know that access is an issue,” Barrows said, adding he encourages students denied admission to the university take advantage of opportunities such as the Connections Program, which allows some dual admissions to the Madison campus, other UW system schools or Madison Area Technical College.

Barrows said UW officials are also trying to increase the number of transfers, which are “fairly flat,” with recruitment initiatives.

The freshman class also showed an increase in number of submitted applications and admission by students of color, according to the report.

Of the admitted freshmen, 716 were students of color. That number is up 14 percent from 2003, bringing the overall amount of minority freshmen to 13 percent.

Barrows said he is very pleased with the increase.

“We still have a ways to go — [these are] modest increases,” he said, adding he thinks a number of initiatives, such the Pre-College Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence (PEOPLE) and the Posse program, are starting to mature.

“[The programs] make a difference in improving numbers [for the] near future,” Barrows said.

UW freshman Liz Koehn said she felt the added pressure of competitive admissions processes when applying to colleges.

“I only got a 27 on the ACTs, and I wasn’t sure that would be high enough,” she said, adding she had a backup school if she was not admitted to UW.

Koehn said she felt added competition while in high school because she knew admission requirement standards.

“I figured I’d have to at least be in the top 10 percent to get in here — I knew I had to accomplish that,” Koehn said.

The high demand for admission to the university is fueled by UW’s national reputation for research, learning and quality of life, the release said.

“With standards rising at each school, people in high school are probably working harder, which probably [creates] more competition,” Koehn added.