First Year Student Convocation - Class of 2027 (9/5/2023)

WELCOME CLASS OF 2027

Tuesday, Sept. 5, is move-in day for first-year students at the University of Denver. Approximately 1,470 families will arrive on campus to help their students get settled into their new home for the upcoming year.

Like last year, 47 states are represented in this year’s incoming class, the only exceptions being West Virginia, Alabama and Mississippi. The Class of 2027 is also made up of students from a total of 27 different countries. Most of the students will require at least a daylong drive or a plane ticket before making it to campus; 72% are traveling from outside of Colorado and nearly two-thirds are from over 500 miles away.

• 28% from Colorado
• 16% from the West
• 12% from the Southwest
• 18% from the Midwest
• 5% from the Southeast
• 16% from the Northeast
• 3% are international

In selecting this year’s class, counselors from Undergraduate Admission evaluated applications from more than 20,000 prospective students. The process takes several months as staff evaluates each applicant holistically to understand and appreciate their academic abilities and their many unique qualities.

The University of Denver continues to recruit a diverse class of students, with 28% identifying as a member of an ethnic group other than white. First-generation students make up 17% of the incoming class.

DU was an early adopter of the test-optional application process. Now in the fourth year of not making test scores mandatory, 62% of students applied without submitting test scores. Of those who did submit test results, the average ACT score was 30, while the average SAT score was 1,292. The class had an average high school GPA of 3.77.

Several students have also been awarded a prestigious scholarship, including three Boettcher Scholars, 22 Davis Scholars, and five Daniels Fund recipients.

In addition to the first-year students, 175 transfer students will begin at DU this fall. Approximately one-third of those students had previously applied to DU.