Mizzou begins fall semester, enrollment down from 2015

As Mizzou begins classes for the Fall 2016 semester, preliminary numbers show enrollment is down from last year.

Mizzou announced Monday morning that preliminary numbers show enrollment for the semester to be at 32,777 students. At the start of the Fall 2015 semester, enrollment was at 35,050 students, making this year’s enrollment almost 6.5% lower than last year.

Around 4,800 freshmen are joining the university this semester. That’s fairly close to an estimate by the provost’s officer in early May, which predicted the freshmen class to fall below 5,000.

For the second year in a row, the average ACT score for incoming students is 26.0, tying the record set last year. The retention rate, or how many freshmen from last year are returning, is just over 85%, the third highest retention rate in university history. Last year, the retention rate was just over 87%.