STORRS, CT — Applications to the University of Connecticut exceeded 63,200 over the most recent cycle and the school this week is welcoming its largest-ever group of about 6,550 first-year students, including record highs at the Storrs and Stamford campuses.
UConn officials expect to have about 25,500 undergraduates at its campuses around the state, including more than 20,500 at Storrs, when classes start on Monday for the 2025-26 academic year.
They include a record 4,715 new first-year students in the Class of 2029 at Storrs and 1,850 at the Stamford, Hartford, Waterbury and Avery Point campuses.
Among UConn’s incoming Class of 2029, about 36 percent of students are the first generation in their families to attend college.
A total of 167 freshmen led their high school graduating classes as valedictorians or salutatorians.
The incoming class also includes 602 first-year students whose achievements earned them a spot in the highly competitive Honors Program.
First-year students from Connecticut come from 162 of the state’s 169 cities and towns, along with 41 states and 81 countries.
First-year students will start moving into UConn’s residence halls on Thursday and Friday, with returning students moving back over the weekend.
Some New Looks On Campus
Returning students will also be welcomed by some campus improvements.
Construction is ongoing on the new School of Nursing Building on Bolton Road near the South Campus dormitories, as is construction on the final phase of the Gant Science Complex renovation at North Eagleville and Auditorium Roads.
The north end of Mirror Lake has a new dam and spillway designed to address potential flooding concerns.
The Hugh Greer Field House and Wolff-Zackin Natatorium are being transformed into the Bailey Student-Athlete Success Center.
UConn has also replaced the at Buckley Hall; the Beecher and Vinton buildings in the Towers Quadrangle; and dozens of units in Hilltop and Charter Oak apartment complexes.
Crews were busy over the summer cleaning and repainting rooms, making repairs and doing other work necessary to welcome back residential students.
The outdoor activity space adjacent to North Campus and the Northwest Quad, which formerly housed an old basketball court and abandoned handball court, will feature two revitalized basketball courts, a walking track, improved green space, and a multipurpose space with new asphalt and better drainage.
The old handball walls will be use them for a mural program, in which students and student groups can submit design ideas by Sept. 15 that are centered around the theme, “Students Today, Huskies Forever.”