Student Body

In the fall 2008 semester, Texas A&M was the seventh largest American university with an enrollment of 48,039 students pursuing degrees in 10 academic colleges. The student body represents all 50 US states and 130 foreign countries. Texas residents account for 86% of the student population, and 28.9% are either of international origin or members of ethnic minority groups. The student body consists of 46.8% women and 53.2% men.

Culture

Although Texas A&M is a secular institution, its student body has a reputation for being religious and conservative. According to a 2005 student survey published in the Princeton Review, Texas A&M ranked 13th highest in the category "students pray on a regular basis". Four years later, the Princeton Review ranked Texas A&M the eighth most socially conservative campus in the nation. The Princeton Review also ranked the university in 2012 as the "10th least friendly" college in the United States for LGBT people, and the least friendly among public schools for LGBT people.

Academic Achievement

The university consistently ranks among the top ten public universities each year in enrollment of National Merit scholars. According to the College Board, the fall 2008 entering freshman class consisted of 54% students in the top 10% of their high school graduating class, 86% in the top quarter, and 99% in the top half. Seventy-four percent of these students took the SAT. The middle 50% of the freshmen had average scores as follows: in critical reading, 520–630, math, 560–670, and in writing 500–610. Twenty-six percent of the incoming freshmen took the ACT, with the middle 50% scoring between a 23 and 29. About 80 percent of the student body receives about $420 million in financial aid annually. The admission rate for students who applied as undergraduates in 2012 was 67%.