Record enrollment and graduation rates combine with strong professional and career outcomes
CONTRIBUTED BY AUBURN UNIVERSITY
AUBURN — More students than ever are choosing Auburn, marking another year of growth for the university and setting the stage for a broader story of student success. Auburn reached record enrollment in fall 2026, with 35,733 total students and 29,693 undergraduates, following a year of record applications to the university.
The milestone follows an admissions cycle that drew more than 67,000 undergraduate applications. Auburn welcomed 6,485 first-time freshmen, up 6% from fall 2025, with the strength of the applicant pool making Auburn the most selective university in Alabama.
More Alabama students are part of that growth
The university enrolled 3,286 first-time freshmen who qualified for Alabama tuition residency, up 1.5% from the previous fall. Based on tuition residency, 59% of undergraduates and more than 38% of graduate and professional students qualify for Alabama resident tuition. The incoming class is also Auburn’s strongest academically to date, with an average ACT score of 29.1 and an average high school GPA of 4.10.
The university’s enrollment gains extend across the student body. Auburn welcomed 1,180 new undergraduate transfer students, while graduate and professional enrollment totaled 6,040. Among incoming graduate and professional students, U.S. resident enrollment increased more than 8%, with particularly strong growth in STEM fields.
“The continued demand for an Auburn education speaks to the value of an Auburn degree and the student experience we provide,” President Christopher B. Roberts said. “What matters most is what happens after students arrive, whether we help them make meaningful progress, connect their education to opportunity and leave Auburn prepared for impactful lives and successful careers.”
And the numbers show what happens after students arrive. Auburn students are returning at high rates, more are graduating on time and many are gaining professional experience that helps prepare them for life and work after college.
From enrollment to graduation
Nearly 19 out of every 20 Auburn first-year students return for their second year, with the university’s first-year retention rate at 94%. In addition, more students are also reaching graduation on time.
Auburn’s six-year graduation rate reached a record 84%, as more students continue to benefit from advising, academic resources and support designed to help them stay on track toward their degrees.
“Every student who reaches graduation represents a goal achieved and a new opportunity ahead,” Roberts said. “Seeing more students reach that milestone on time means more Auburn graduates are able to take what they have learned and put it to work sooner.”
Learning that extends beyond the classroom
For many students, that preparation begins well before graduation. Nearly 72% of Auburn undergraduates graduate with an applied work experience, including internships, cooperative education, undergraduate research and other professional opportunities.
Among students who completed internships, accounting, construction management, defense, education and health care were among the leading fields, giving students opportunities to gain experience across a range of professions before they leave Auburn.
Christian Reaume saw the value of those experiences firsthand. The 2025 aviation management graduate completed two internships with Delta Air Lines, where he gained an early look at the aviation industry and a clearer sense of where he wanted his career to go. Today, he works for Delta as a commercial strategy analyst.
“My internships gave me the opportunity to take what I was learning at Auburn and see how it applied in a real-world setting,” Reaume said. “They helped me better understand the industry, build relationships and ultimately gave me a clearer picture of where I wanted to take my career.”
For many Auburn students, those experiences are also opening doors to employment. By graduation, 26% of jobs secured by students were directly tied to an applied work experience. Graduates who completed one also reported average salaries nearly 11% higher than those who did not.
From Auburn to career
The value of that preparation becomes clearer as students move into the workforce. Among undergraduates who graduated between 2021 and 2025, more than 83% achieved career success within six months of graduation. For the 2025 graduating class, that figure reached 85%.
Many graduates also had choices about where to go next. Nearly half received multiple job offers, 79% accepted their top-choice outcome and more than 97% reported satisfaction with where they landed. Across the undergraduate cohorts measured, respondents reported an average salary of approximately
$60,000.
For Katie Bohm, a 2025 supply chain management and business analytics graduate from the Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, the path led to Deloitte & Touche LLP, where she works as a consultant with energy, resources and industrials and life sciences clients.
“Auburn prepared me for my career at Deloitte by giving me a strong foundation in both business knowledge and practical real-world problem solving,” Bohm said. “Through my classes, group projects and involvement in the Harbert College of Business, I learned how to collaborate with people from different backgrounds, communicate effectively and approach challenges with a solution-oriented mindset.”
Graduate students are seeing strong results as well. Among those measured from 2022 through 2025, nearly 89% achieved career success within six months of graduation, with an overall average salary of more than $88,000.
Strengthening Alabama’s talent pipeline
Auburn graduates are also contributing significantly to Alabama’s workforce. More than 77% of in-state bachelor’s graduates remained in Alabama after graduation, while nearly 40% of those who came to Auburn from outside the state also stayed to work or continue their education.
As companies expand and invest in Alabama, new opportunities are opening for Auburn graduates each year, particularly among industries that are critically important to the state and nation. Auburn’s presence in Huntsville, Birmingham and the Gulf Coast brings students and graduates closer to employers in some of Alabama’s key economic centers, where job growth and investment continue to create demand for talent.
Those connections also put Auburn in a position to respond to the changing needs of employers. By educating students from across Alabama, attracting talent from elsewhere and preparing graduates with the knowledge and experience employers are seeking, Auburn is helping build the workforce needed to support the state’s growth while creating more opportunities for graduates to begin and build their careers here.
An Auburn connection that endures
For many graduates, building a life and career after Auburn begins a new chapter in their relationship with the university. In Auburn’s latest outcomes data, 96% of alumni said they would choose Auburn again.
For many, that connection also becomes an investment in the students who follow. In fiscal year 2025, Auburn alumni, friends and corporate partners contributed more than $237 million through 56,513 gifts, supporting scholarships, academic programs, faculty and facilities that help shape the experience of the next generation.
“An Auburn education is about more than earning a degree,” Roberts said. “It is about the experiences students have here, the opportunities those experiences create and how those experiences shape what comes next. Our students come to Auburn ready to learn and grow, leave prepared and remain part of a community that continues to invest in those who follow. That is how we carry the Auburn experience forward from one generation to the next.”
The Auburn experience, by the numbers:
• 6,485 first-time freshmen joined Auburn following an admissions cycle that drew more than 67,000 undergraduate applications.
• The incoming class had an average ACT score of 29.1 and an average high school GPA of 4.10.
• More than half of first-time freshmen qualified for Alabama resident tuition.
• Among all undergraduates, 59.4% qualify for Alabama resident tuition.
• All 67 Alabama counties and all 50 states are represented across Auburn’s total enrollment.
• 1,180 new transfer students joined Auburn, while graduate and professional enrollment totaled 6,040.
• Auburn enrolled 35,733 students, including 29,693 undergraduates, setting new university enrollment records.
• 94% of first-year students return for their second year at Auburn.
• 84% of Auburn students graduate within six years.
• Nearly 72% of undergraduates graduate with an applied work experience.
• More than 83% of undergraduate graduates achieve career success within six months, including 85% of 2025 graduates.
• Nearly 89% of graduate students achieve career success within six months, with an average salary of more than $88,000.
• More than 77% of in-state bachelor’s graduates remain in Alabama after graduation, while nearly 40% of graduates who came to Auburn from outside the state also stay for employment or further education.
