For this happy turn of events, we owe the State Legislature a great debt of thanks. In a difficult budgetary year for the state of Washington, our legislators were able to restore some portion of the revenues they had cut from higher education in the previous four years. This was not easy. But they were emboldened to do so by the tremendous outpouring of support for higher education across the state that came from newspapers, businesses, citizens, parents, and students, who joined together to make the case that investing in higher education is the very best way to invest in our state’s future. To everyone who participated in these efforts, thank you!
We can see the future of our state in the faces of the 6,200 freshmen who enrolled at the University of Washington this fall. This is the largest entering class we have ever had, selected from the largest pool of applications for admission we have ever received. Two-thirds of these entering freshmen come from the state of Washington. The next largest group—around 18%—is made up of students from the other 49 states. International students represent about 15% of the entering class. We will also enroll more than 1,700 new transfer students this fall, of whom 79% are from Washington state community colleges.