Who Is the Class of 2022?

On Friday, more than 400 fresh faces head to campus for their first year at the Rock. Besides some certain universal truths of residence hall living they are sure to experience, what else do we know about the class of 2022?

They’re pretty darn smart. The national average ACT score as of 2017 is 21. This year’s freshman class at Rockhurst did them one better (or, more accurately, 3.63 better), with an average composite score of 24.63. Collectively, they have a grade-point average of 3.65. Not bad.

They come from all over. The new students come from 20 different states in the U.S. — the most popular being Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska.

Let’s check in on that I-70 rivalry — 41 percent of the freshman class call KC home (and have strong opinions about barbecue), while another 38 percent hail from St. Louis (and consider Fredbird their spirit animal).

What are they going to be when they grow up? The most popular majors this year are pre-nursing, biology, business administration, and, of course, undeclared.

If we still used phone books on campus, these entries would be pretty crowded — Anderson, Harris, Hernandez, Jones, Patel and Smith are the most common last names among the class of 2022.

RU First? Approximately 93 out of the 410 freshman are first-generation college students — or approximately 23 percent of the class. For another 22 percent of the class, RU is like a second home — they’re legacy students, meaning a sibling, parent or grandparent, or aunt, uncle, or cousin was a Hawk before them.