The University of Michigan said its fall enrollment in 2026 topped 54,000 students — a record — as the school drew students from every corner of the state, country and around the world.
U-M enrolled 54,181new and returning students for fall, including 36,945 in-state students, up slightly from 2025 when 35,358 students were enrolled and an increase of nearly 4.5%, the university announced on Monday, Oct. 5
.“Students continue to look to Michigan as they prepare for their future for its exceptional academic experience, breadth of opportunities, significant resources and engaged faculty,” said Adele C. Brumfield, vice provost for enrollment management. “These reasons, and many more, explain why amid a challenging higher education landscape, U-M’s
appeal remained strong, with record new and returning undergraduate student enrollment."
The school also set a record in 2025 when 53,488 students were enrolled in the fall, and in 2024 when 52,855students enrolled, up slightly from2023's 52,065.
Among undergraduate students in the 2026 incoming class, enrollment increased for first-year students compared to last year, from 8,178 to 8,659.
Additionally, new undergraduate transfer students increased by 12% over last year, from 1,533 to 1,722.
More than 5,000 of the incoming students are native Michiganders and graduated from 537 different high schools across the state. Including the incoming class, residents from 82 of the state’s 83 counties are enrolled in the university.
The in-state students are joined by classmates from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, five U.S. territories and 54 foreign countries, including China, India, Canada, and South Korea, among others.
U-M has the largest number of students in Michigan, just edging MSU, which announcedenrollment of just under 51,000 this semester.
Graduate student enrollment impacted by immigration policy, UM says
According to the university, graduate school enrollment decreased from 18,130 in 2025 to 17,236 this year, including 8,812 master’s students, 5,602 doctoral students and 2,751 students pursuing professional doctorates.
Among the 17,000 grad students, 4,784 are international students, a decrease of 12.7% from last year.
The trends at the university follow a national trend amid tighter U.S. visa policies, among other things, multiple media reports show.
“While changes in the federal funding landscape and uncertainty over U.S. immigration policy have likely contributed to declining trends in graduate enrollment over the past two years, U-M continues to attract a broad range of talented students due to our standing as a top U.S. university for advanced education, training, and research,” said Mike Solomon, vice provost for academic affairs — graduate studies and dean of Rackham Graduate School. “We also remain committed to providing a wealth of resources to support academic success and student experience.”
According to the National Student ClearinghouseResearch Center, international graduate enrollment declined 5.9% in 2025 after years of steady growth.
Who makes up the fall 2026 undergraduate class?
Among the 10,381 first-year and transfer undergraduate students who arrived on the U-M campus this fall, more than 1,500 are the first generation in their families to attend a university, an increase of 13% since last year.
Additionally, first year students are more often women than men, 55% to 45%, reflecting their total undergraduate population that’s slightly more female than male (53% to 47%).
Jalen Williams is a trending reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at jawilliams1@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: U-M says record 54K student are enrolled. How enrollment breaks down
