Smith Welcomes Largest Freshman Class Ever

The Smith School welcomed its largest-ever freshman class, with nearly 700 new first-year undergraduate students. The class size is about 17% larger than last fall’s freshman student enrollment, which at that time was the largest and most impressive class in recent years.

The new class kicked off the semester at the fall 2025 Freshman Convocation, held Aug. 31 at Stamp Student Union. Faculty, staff, students and alumni welcomed the new students into the academic community as they officially kicked off their college journey.

“We are thrilled that growth in our undergraduate program is at an all-time high, as we welcome our largest class ever this fall,” said Dean Prabhudev Konana. “Interest in our programs continues to grow across campus. Enrollment in the general business minor has surged from 369 students in 2022 to nearly 1,200 today, and our Financial Wellness initiative now serves about 2,200 students.”

Joseph Bailey, associate dean of Undergraduate Programs, spoke to the new students at the convocation event, welcoming them to the strong Smith community of faculty, staff, alumni and students, “here to support you, every step the way.”

The students also heard from Smith alumnus Mark Rabinowitz ’05, CPA and assurance partner at EY, who encouraged them to get involved while at Smith and get out of their comfort zones to make the most of being a student.

Finance and information systems student Eileen Chen ’26 also spoke. She tied her own Smith experience to the emotions in the Pixar movie, “Inside Out,” and pushed the new class to conquer any fear of trying new things and explore the excitement and joy of taking advantage of all the opportunities available to them.

About 165 new MBA students also eagerly began classes in College Park, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore and online. Smith also welcomed nearly 400 new master’s students to campus this fall, and about 100 more online. The new graduate students kicked off the semester with weeklong orientations, planned by current students in each respective program, that included introductions to faculty and staff, team-building exercises and career information sessions.

New doctoral students also began this fall, with 18 in the DBA program and 16 in PhD program.