More than 4,600 undergraduate students from the Class of 2019 are experiencing university academic life for the first time this month, with classes beginning on Queen’s campus in Kingston and at the Bader International Student Centre (BISC) in Sussex, England.

“Queen’s is excited to welcome the incoming class, the newest members of the Queen’s family,” says Daniel Woolf, Principal and Vice-Chancellor. “We look forward to supporting these students as their passion for learning takes them in new and exciting directions over the next four years.”

Queen’s received nearly 31,000 applications for 4,517 spaces in the first-year class. The incoming class boasts an average of 88.4  per cent, and female students make up 60 per cent of first-year students.

These new students hail from all 10 provinces, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Queen’s also continues to make progress on its goal of increasing the number of high achieving international undergraduate students. There are 318 international students in the first-year class, an increase of 29.8 per cent over the same time last year. Almost 10  per cent of the incoming class    attended high school outside of Canada in 42 different countries and 29 U.S. states.

“The Queen’s student learning experience is enriched by the diversity of experience and perspective that students from all over the country and around the world bring to the Queen’s campus,” says Ann Tierney, Vice-Provost and Dean of Student Affairs.

Queen’s continues to do well in attracting Ontario, out of province and international students with acceptances from Ontario students increasing by 4.3 per cent and out of province acceptances increasing by 8 per cent. 

Some other quick facts about the incoming class include:
• 4.3 per cent of students self-identify as the first generation in their family to attend post-secondary education;
• 1.5 per cent of the incoming class identifies as Aboriginal; and
• 93 per cent of the incoming class was 18 years of age or younger as of June 1, 2015. 

Faculty of Arts and Science students make up 68.7 per cent of the incoming class, followed by the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science with 16.5 per cent, Commerce with 10.7 per cent and Nursing with 2 per cent.