For Fall 2024, the University of Detroit Mercy brought in its biggest first-year class, 655 students, since 1990. This class is 18.7% larger than last year’s 2023 freshman class of 552 students.
The University’s application rate skyrocketed since last year’s ranking in The Wall Street Journal. This year, UDM ranked No. 43 in the United States, which is higher than its ranking in 2023. Now, the University is on pace to set another record of applications for the 2025-26 academic year, according to Debbie Stieffel, Vice President for Enrollment and Student Affairs.
Many of the new students are from Michigan, but there are also students from 20 different states along with nine countries. This includes Lebanon, India, Ukraine, South Korea and Vietnam.
It is important that all students feel comfortable and welcome before starting classes, so UDM has implemented an orientation week where students are able to get to know each other and live on campus a week prior to classes starting.
The UDM admissions office, residence life and student life staff have been working extremely hard all summer to make the transition easy and comforting.
“These enrollment numbers are the result of a lot of hard work by all University employees,” Stieffel said. “Recruitment is everybody’s job and there is a great deal of pride in our programming, mission and special location in the heart of Detroit.”
One of the main ideas that the staff wanted to focus on was creating new and more memorable experiences for the incoming and returning students.
This includes creating a sort of new orientation program. Dean of Students, Monica Williams, had a lot of plans for the incoming freshman class.
“Last year what we noticed is that students wanted to get to know each other within their major,” Williams said. “So, we tried to be really intentional about creating those opportunities for folks that were also fun and engaging.”
UDM also installed a program to help aid first-year students, which has also made a significant impact. The program is called Titan Edge, which offers free tuition to first-year students who meet certain eligibility requirements.
Due to the higher amount of first-year students, the residence halls have also adjusted. The residence life team created a new six-to-eight-week program to help students acclimate from living at home to a dorm hall.
The program offers help to students on how to do laundry as well as allowing students to talk to their roommates to help them feel more comfortable.
Along with new programs, the class of 2029 has brought a significant amount of good energy to campus. This class means a lot to the University, faculty, incoming students and returning students.
The president of the University, Donald B. Taylor, also feels this way about the class.
“We are honored that so many of tomorrow’s leaders have entrusted us with their college education,” Taylor said. “It shows young people are looking for the life-changing education we offer at Detroit Mercy, and they trust us to deliver it.”
