Cornell is beginning its sesquicentennial year with a new milestone – the incoming freshman class is the most competitive and selective ever.

Cornell received a record-setting 43,037 applications for freshman admission this year, after receiving 39,999 in 2013. And as applications go up, the admissions process becomes more selective: 6,105 freshmen (14.2 percent of applicants – the lowest admission rate in university history) were offered admission this year, compared with 6,222 (15.6 percent) in 2013.

According to admissions records, the freshman yield – the percentage of admitted students who accept the offer of admission and enroll at Cornell – is the highest it has been since 1981. The freshman yield this year is 53.4 percent (3,261 students); in 2013 the yield was 52.7 percent (3,282).

With 572 students transferring from other institutions, there will be 3,833 new undergraduates on campus.

The Class of 2018 comes from 51 countries and from 49 states (only North Dakota is unrepresented), as well as the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Ten percent (325 students) are international, and 30.5 percent (996) are residents of New York state. Last year, incoming freshmen hailed from 51 countries and 48 states (including North Dakota).

As an indication of Cornell’s efforts to recruit a diverse student body, the incoming class exceeds last year’s record high of 1,340 freshmen identifying as students of color. That number has increased to 1,399, or 42.9 percent of all freshmen. Among new transfer students, 166 (29 percent) are students of color, up from 153 (27.3 percent) last year.

The number of incoming freshmen who are the first in their families to attend college has also increased. First-generation college students make up 13.5 percent of the freshman class – 441 students – compared with 12.1 percent (396 students) of the incoming class one year ago.

“The diversity of backgrounds of our incoming undergraduates reinforces the ‘any person’ component of Cornell’s commitment to our founder’s statement of ‘any person, any study.’ This is particularly fitting as we focus this year on celebrating the sesquicentennial of Cornell’s founding,” said Vice Provost Barbara Knuth, who oversees undergraduate admissions.

The average need-based grant award from Cornell sources for financial aid recipients among freshmen and transfer students increased significantly this year. The average grant for freshmen was $35,735, up from $33,789 in 2013, and the average grant for transfer students was $33,570, up from $30,760.

“The significant increase in average grant aid awards for financial aid recipients demonstrates Cornell’s deep commitment to access and affordability,” said Jason Locke, associate vice provost for enrollment.