Claremont, Calif. (September 13, 2010) – One-third of the Pitzer College entering class graduated from high school with a 4.0 GPA or higher, and 55% were in the top 10% of their high school class. The class consists of 270 students from 220 different high schools.
The entering class is among the most ethnically diverse ever enrolled at Pitzer College-34% are from under-represented groups. Pitzer is one of the most diverse liberal arts colleges in the country-it was ranked fifth in racial diversity among the top fifty co-educational liberal arts colleges nationwide by the 2010 US News and World Report.
Nine percent of the class is the first in their family to attend college.
President Laura Skandera Trombley said, “We are very proud to welcome our future alumni to Pitzer College and I expect them to leave us even stronger than we are today.”
Thirty-five percent of the entering class receives financial aid, and Pitzer is committed to meeting 100% of every student’s demonstrated financial need. The average financial aid package at Pitzer is $39,100.
Pitzer College has successfully reduced the average amount of indebtedness of its students. Over the past five years, the average cumulative debt after four years of study decreased 25%, from nearly $22,000 to $16,000.
Sixty-one percent of the entering class are from outside California. The major geographic areas represented, in order, are New York, Illinois, Washington, Massachusetts and Oregon.
Within the first-year cohort, nine received a Presidential Service Award, 11 were student body or class presidents, nine were editors of their school paper, literary magazine or yearbook and 62 were captains of a sports team. Two have a blackbelt. There is also an internationally-ranked Yo-Yo player, a Latin American election monitor, a concertmaster, a disaster service worker, a falconer, a professional swing dancer and a children’s book illustrator.
