Ball State expects big freshman class for 2016-17 school year

The record of 3,980 students was set in 1997.

This summer, 3,822 incoming freshmen attended orientation (for various reasons not all students attend orientation), and as of Thursday, 3,891 freshmen had registered for the fall semester, Kay Bales, vice president for student affairs/enrollment services, told the university's board of trustees on Friday.

"It's pretty safe at this point to assume our class will be right around 3,900," Bales said.

That compares to a freshman class of 3,388 last year and a class of 3,487 in the fall of 2014.