College enrolls largest ever freshman class

SARASOTA — Incoming students at New College of Florida, 293 in total, represent the largest ever freshman class at the school, Florida's designated honors college for liberal arts.

New students come from as far away as Arizona, Montana and Oregon, in addition to Israel, Jordan and Turkey, according to a release. The college was founded in 1960.

“This is our largest first-year class ever and yet still one of the most selective and academically strong,” Dean of Enrollment Services and Information Technology Kathleen Killion says in a release.

More than half the new students, 51%, were in the top 10% of their high school graduating class, and 77% were in the top 20%, the college says in the release. More than half the incoming students had a GPA of 4.00 or better.

Other facts about the New College 2015 freshman class include:
• More than a quarter of the class scored 700 or more on the SAT's verbal component, including 13 with perfect 800 scores;
• The average GPA of the students is 3.98 on a four-point scale;
• The class is 63% female and 37% male;
• Most students, 81%, are from Florida and 25 other states are represented;
• Five foreign countries are represented: Germany, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.