Swarthmore College welcomes 415 first-year students and eleven transfer students to the campus community this week, as the 2016-17 academic year officially begins. This is the start of the College's 148th year of instruction.

The first-year class was selected from among 7,717 applicants, of whom 13 percent were offered admission.

“We are energized and excited to welcome this amazing group of scholars into the Swarthmore community,” says Jim Bock ’90, vice president and dean of admissions. “The class is geographically diverse, with 23 percent representing 38 countries, and show exceptional promise to absorb the benefits of the Swarthmore experience and affect positive changes on both local and global levels.”

The Class of 2020 comprises 220 women and 195 men. Among the domestic students, eight percent identify themselves as African American, 14 percent as Hispanic/Latina/o, 14 percent as Asian American, one as Native American, and six percent as multiracial. In addition, 20 percent are the first generation in their family to attend college.

Forty-one states are represented by the members of the incoming class as well as the District of Columbia. New York is the most popular location for high schools among the new class, followed by California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, and Texas, all with double digit enrollment.

The Class of 2020 contains 95 members who are either dual citizens, permanent residents, or non-U.S. citizens representing Australia, Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, China, Congo (Kinshasa), Egypt, France, Germany, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Palestine, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Vietnam.

Fifty-six percent of the new students attended public high schools, 22 percent private independent schools, eleven percent parochial schools, and 11 percent schools overseas. At least two students were home-schooled.

The most popular anticipated majors among Swarthmore’s newest students are engineering, economics, political science, biology, mathematics, physics, psychology, English literature, computer science, and biochemistry.