2008-2009 Women's Swimming Media Guide

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ESTABLISHED IN 1876

NATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

ince its Oct. 4, 1876 opening as the state’s first public institute of higher learning, the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, now known as Texas A &M University, has grown into a leader in teaching, research and service, with an international reputation for excellence in academics and athletics. Located in the heart of Texas, less than 160 miles from four of the nation’s 20 largest cities (Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Austin) and home to the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, Texas A &M is a popular and convenient destination for visitors from throughout the state.

nrollment: Texas A &M is the nation’s sixth-largest university (46,542 students in fall 2007). Students represent every state and 133 other nations. 3,483 (55 percent) of the first-time-in-college students enrolled in fall 2007 graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school class. The average SAT for freshmen is 1208 (national average is 1017). The university received a record 21,000+ applications and a record 8,085 entering freshmen for fall 2007. Fall 2008 freshman enrollment is also expected to top 8,000. It enrolls more than 4,100 international students from 128 countries (ranked 13th) and sends more than 1,200 students on Study Abroad programs each year.

INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS exas A &M is a worldwide leader a wide array of international programs, partnerships and exchanges. Faculty and research staff have participated in more than 300 research projects in more than 50 countries and on all seven continents in recent years; the university enjoys formal cooperative agreements with about 100 institutions in more than 40 nations in Europe, Asia and throughout the Americas. As of the April 2008, Texas A &M enrolled approximately 4,100 international students from 128 countries (ranked 13th) and sends more than 1,200 students on Study Abroad programs each year. Texas A &M University at Qatar was established in 2003 in Education City, a 2,400-acre campus that also houses branch campuses of Virginia Commonwealth University, Weill Cornell Medical College, Carnegie Mellon University and Georgetown University in the city of Doha. A comprehensive Study Abroad program offers students a range of opportunities to study overseas-independently, as part of faculty-led excursions, through student exchanges or at Texas A &M centers such as The Santa Chiara Study Center in Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy; The James Earl Rudder Scholar Program in Caen, Normandy, France; and The Texas A &M University Center in Mexico City, Mexico.

NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARS: Texas A &M is ranked No. 10 in the nation in the enrollment of National Merit Scholars and had the second-largest increase among all schools according to the 2007 National Merit Scholarship Corp. annual report.

VALUE OF RESEARCH: With nearly $570 million invested in research, Texas A &M ranks among the top 20 research universities nationwide. Texas A &M has been identified by magazine as one of the top 12 academically elite schools in the amount of research received from industry.

ENDOWMENT: Texas A &M’s endowment (including some parts of The Texas A &M University System) for FY 2007 was valued at about $6.5 billion, ranking 10th nationally and fourth among public universities.

2008-09 WOMEN’S SWIMMING

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T E X A S A &M

ADDITIONAL POINTS OF INTEREST: • Among 62 invited members of the prestigious American Association of Universities. • One of a select few institution to hold triple federal designation: Land Grant, Sea Grant and Space Grant. • has ranked Texas A &M among the best public universities in the country in recent years—21st overall in 2007—and eighth among graduate schools. Sixteen graduate specialties are in the top 20 among public universities in the United States, and agriculture is ranked first. • Texas A &M tied for ninth place among public institutions in a new survey that ranks earnings of alumni from around the country with 10 to 20 years of experience. Texas A &M was the only Texas institution ranked among the top 10 public schools in a list dominated by University of California schools. • , a college guidebook for prospective students, listed Texas A &M as one of the country’s “top 10 best value public colleges” in 2007.

• ranked Texas A &M first in Texas and the Southwest among its best values in public colleges in 2006. • The ranked Texas A &M seventh in the nation last year in its inaugural guide for prospective students. • ranked Texas A &M 25th in the country in 2006 in the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded to Hispanic students. The university ranked first in agriculture, fourth in biological and biomedical sciences, fourth in engineering and seventh in interdisciplinary studies. • Established a chapter of the academic honors society Phi Beta Kappa in spring 2004. • The Memorial Student Center is the nation’s largest student-union program. The university has more than 700 university-recognized clubs and organizations to satisfy a myriad of social, personal-development and recreational interests. • The university’s 5,200-acre physical plant, one of the largest in the nation, is valued at more than $1 billion. • Texas A &M University at Galveston, the state’s marine and maritime branch campus, has been in operation since 1962 and enrolls about 1,700 students in undergraduate and graduate degrees in science, engineering, business and transportation.

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