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Applications to the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus have hit a record high with more than 115,000 prospective first-year and transfer students looking to enroll for the fall 2025 term.

Application volume for prospective first-year students increased in all categories: in-state, out-of-state and international. There were nearly 109,000 applications, an almost 11% increase over 2024. First-year applications have increased 36% over the past five years. 

“The continued and growing interest from prospective students demonstrates the clear value of the University of Michigan experience from those within our state, across the nation and around the globe,” said Adele C. Brumfield, vice provost for enrollment management.

“As a public university committed to access and affordability, we are pleased to see a significant increase in applications from first-generation students and students from low-income backgrounds, as well as continued growth from our Michigan residents in both first-year and transfer applications.”

Several categories recorded increases in prospective first-year student applications:

• First-generation students (24.5%)
• In-state (0.5%)
• Out-of-state domestic (11%)
• International students (18%)
• Students from self-reported low-income backgrounds (12%)
• Students of color increased by 14%. The largest year-to-year increase within an identity group occurred in students identifying as Black or African American (17%), followed by Hispanic or Latine​ (15%), and Native American (13%) and Asian (13%).

While applications from transfer students have increased nearly 25% in the last five years, fall 2025 applications dipped slightly overall to 6,157, a 2% decrease compared with 6,297 the previous year. Despite the decrease, transfer applications increased in several categories:

• In-state (6%)
• First-generation (7%)
• Students from self-reported low-income backgrounds (7%)
• Students of color (11%)

Decisions were released in January for first-year students who applied by the early action application deadline. The regular decision application deadline was Feb. 1, and final admissions decisions will be released by early April. Students offered admission to U-M in Ann Arbor have until May 1 to accept, which is the national undergraduate reply date.

“We continue to encourage students from different backgrounds and life experiences to consider the University of Michigan as their best choice for pursuing their dreams,” said Erica L. Sanders, assistant vice provost and executive director of undergraduate admissions.

“Throughout the recruitment process, we encourage prospective students to visit campus and engage with our community in ways that help them see that they belong at the university.”

Using data available in the CSS Profile — an online application used by colleges and scholarship programs to award non-federal institutional aid — and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, the Office of Financial Aid strives to provide prospective students with financial aid packages within two weeks of their acceptance letter.

“Through additional outreach efforts there has been an increase of 52% in the number of prospective students that have completed the CSS Profile, compared with this time last year,” said Tammie L. Durham Luis, assistant vice provost of enrollment management and executive director of financial aid.

“This enables us to provide students a clear picture of the financial support available to them at U-M when making their college choice.”

U-M offers a number of financial aid options including scholarships and grants, loans and federal work-study. In addition, U-M recently expanded eligibility for its Go Blue Guarantee, which provides a tuition-free education to incoming and returning full-time, in-state students whose families have annual incomes up to $125,000 and assets up to $125,000, beginning in the fall of 2025.

The Office of Enrollment Management team and campus partners have begun conducting programs for admitted students on-campus, throughout the state of Michigan and in key areas around the country, with the goal of showcasing the U-M experience and aiding students as they finalize their college choice. These programs will continue throughout the next two months with the largest in-person event series, Campus Day, running through April.

The fall term begins Aug. 25 on the Ann Arbor campus. Detailed fall 2025 enrollment numbers will be released in October.

New solar installations distributed across the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor, Flint and Dearborn campuses will have a total capacity of 25 megawatts of renewable electricity after a three-year installation process is complete.

The electricity generated — enough to power about 3,000 homes — will feed directly into U-M buildings rather than going back into the regional power grid and will work toward the university’s goal of eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from purchased electricity, known as Scope 2 emissions.

The installations also will contribute to the energy resilience and climate action goals of the city of Ann Arbor.

Along with new off-site, Michigan-based renewable-power purchase agreements, the installations will allow the university to achieve its Scope 2 emissions goal within an estimated two years.

The solar installations will be constructed in phases. Initial locations will be on the tops of existing parking areas and large rooftops, where installations will cause minimal disruption. Other locations will be assessed over time.

The first installation phase will begin in 2025 with facilities services buildings on the perimeter of the Ann Arbor campus before moving to higher-use campus locations. By the end of that year, the university expects to have more than 10 megawatts of power online in Ann Arbor.

The full project will span three years, with installations at UM-Dearborn and UM-Flint in later phases.

The project demonstrates one part of the university’s broad commitment to carbon neutrality and modernizing its energy infrastructure with resilient technologies that better serve communities, said Shana Weber, associate vice president for campus sustainability.

“In addition to moving the university closer to demonstrating repeatable and scalable approaches to climate action, we seek to deepen an immersive educational and research experience that advances innovation and builds high-impact partnerships,” Weber said.

She described the overarching approach as one that strives to cultivate the campus and community as a living learning lab across all climate action initiatives.

The solar installations are part of the university’s Campus Plan 2050, which was released Sept. 30 and guides comprehensive campus development for the next 25 years. The effort also reflects the commitment of the university’s Vision 2034 “Climate Action, Sustainability and Environmental Justice” impact area. 

“Sourcing our electricity from Michigan-based renewable sources is only one piece of the solution,” said Kim Kiernan, co-interim associate vice president for facilities and operations. “By connecting to the larger campus plan, and to the pillars of the university’s Vision 2034, physical systems will work together with programmatic goals to advance exciting initiatives.”

“When combined with other investments in building electrification, including geo-exchange and heat pump systems for heating and cooling, sustainable building methods, transit infrastructure improvements and more, we move closer to realizing a resilient, innovative, livable community that is a go-to leader in responsiveness to global needs,” Weber said.

The university says the upfront investments in making this transition will provide long-term benefits, including improved energy resilience, reduced financial risk due to volatile fuel markets, reputational leadership, educational and research opportunities, and reduced operating costs.

The University of Michigan is expanding eligibility for its Go Blue Guarantee, enabling nearly 2,200 additional in-state, current undergraduate students to qualify for tuition-free education at the Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint campuses.

The university announced Dec. 5 that eligible incoming and returning full-time, in-state students whose families have annual incomes up to $125,000 and assets up to $125,000 will qualify beginning in the fall of 2025.

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• Go Blue Guarantee

The move will mean that, by the fall, more than 10,000 students will have received the full-tuition guarantee since the initiative began.

“The Go Blue Guarantee breaks down economic barriers and ensures that a world-class education is available to Michigan students from all backgrounds, no matter their family’s economic means,” said President Santa J. Ono.

“Having witnessed the initiative’s transformative impact, we’re proud to take this step to support a greater number of our state’s most promising students and reaffirm our commitment to affordability and equal opportunity.”

The Go Blue Guarantee launched on the Ann Arbor campus in January 2018 and offered free tuition for in-state students from families with an annual income up to $65,000 and assets up to $50,000. The Board of Regents extended the commitment in 2021, with the same income and asset thresholds, to UM-Dearborn and UM-Flint students with a 3.5 GPA.

The income and asset thresholds moved to $75,000 for the Ann Arbor campus in 2023, and the income threshold increased to $75,000 for new students on the Dearborn campus in fall of 2024.

The university will invest an additional $8.8 million annually to expand the commitment, which since inception has extended free tuition to more than 8,000 students. With this expansion, an additional 2,200 students on all three campuses will be eligible for the guarantee. Dearborn and Flint will continue to require students to have a 3.5 GPA to qualify.

“As a state university, we have a responsibility to serve the people of Michigan and — given the many pressures of today’s economy — we want to ensure that working-class and middle-class Michiganders can send their children to this great university and benefit from all that it offers,” said Board Chair Katherine E. White.

“The Go Blue Guarantee has had a meaningful impact on the lives of Dearborn students,” said UM-Dearborn Chancellor Domenico Grasso. “Half of our student population is Pell (Grant) eligible and nearly half are first generation to attend college. Providing additional financial assistance allows more in-state students to obtain a Michigan degree, put their dreams into practice and change the trajectory of their lives.”

“The Go Blue Guarantee reflects our commitment to making higher education accessible,” said UM-Flint Chancellor Laurence B. Alexander. “By covering full undergraduate tuition for qualifying Flint students, we empower first-time students and transfer students to achieve their greatest potential and transform their futures. This program ensures that financial circumstances do not stand in the way of success.”

Undergraduate financial aid for students at the Ann Arbor campus has increased by an average of more than 9% annually over the past decade. As a result, 63% of in-state undergraduates and 43% of out-of-state undergraduate students at Ann Arbor receive grant or scholarship aid.

For most resident undergraduate students who receive need-based financial aid, the net cost of attending U-M Ann Arbor is less than it was 10 years ago, after adjusting for inflation. Nearly 3,000 fewer students are taking out loans compared with a decade ago. 

At Dearborn and Flint, annual undergraduate financial aid over the past decade has increased about 9% and 6%, respectively.

“During the admissions process, the three University of Michigan campuses strive to encourage students from all backgrounds to consider t​he life-changing effect a U-M education will have on their future. Today’s announcement makes the U-M experience affordable for many more students,” said Adele C. Brumfield, vice provost for enrollment management.

U-M’s Ann Arbor campus is the only public university in Michigan that meets full demonstrated need for in-state students, providing support for students beyond the Go Blue Guarantee with family incomes up to $180,000.

UM-Dearborn and UM-Flint will continue to provide significant financial aid for students who do not qualify for the Go Blue Guarantee based on individual need and merit.