After receiving a record number of applications, the University of Rhode Island exceeded its enrollment target for the incoming freshman class this fall.
The academic caliber of students on the Kingston campus is also on the rise, with new students arriving with strong grade point averages from high school and some college credits already earned, according too Dean Libutti, the school’s associate vice president for enrollment management and student success.
A total of 28,036 first-year applications were received in 2025, Libutti told the university’s Board of Trustees during a presentation Friday.
Ultimately,3,431 of those students enrolled – a number above both the school’s original and revised goals for the size of its incoming freshman class,Libutti said. Last year, URI received 26,800 applications.
“that happens at a time when we are seeing declining high school demographics, so [it’s] really exciting to see,” Libutti said. “Our superpower is that our recruitment is actually a team sport by all divisions and people on campus.”
URI had 17,471 students this fall semester, comprised of 15,045 undergrads and 2,426 grad students.
Though,a lack of housing on campus may cap further growth,libutti warned. “We are at capacity at the undergraduate traditional level,” Libutti said.
The university announced Thursday that it had finalized a partnership with construction firm Gilbane to begin building three new residence halls, which will increase the number of on-campus beds by more than 2,000. Construction is set to begin later in November, and the first residence hall could open in fall 2027.
Meanwhile, however, graduate students living in the Graduate Village Apartments will need to be relocated, as the building is being torn down before its eventual replacement can be built, the Good Five Cent cigar reported recently.
“Housing is so critical, as we obviously are planning for when we grow capacity, but we have to grow it in a responsible way,” said the board’s Chair Margo Cook during Friday’s meeting.
Ahead of the fall semester’s conclusion next month, Libutti gave his routine update on how the school’s admissions department is doing. URI had upped its undergraduate admissions target from 3,275 to 3,385 as of two factors – all in all, “a terrific year recruiting new undergraduate students,” libutti said.
First, libutti said, the university did not have to contend with the disastrous rollout of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid like it did in 2024. The standardized, federal financial form was plagued with technical errors in 2024, and wrought chaos in admissions departments nationwide as schools and families alike depend on concrete financial aid offers to make enrollment decisions.
The second reason URI could exceed its initial hopes was because this year’s pool of applicants was particularly strong, Libutti said.