The University of Houston has seen continued enrollment growth as the school nears its 100th anniversary in 2027.
In a nutshell
UH welcomed nearly 7,100 freshmen this fall, breaking its freshman enrollment record for the third year in a row, university officials announced in an Aug. 24 news release. Freshmen also broke a new record with 39,000 applications, a 12% increase from last year.
However, the acceptance rate saw an almost two percentage point decrease to 75.8% this year, Director of Media Relations Bryan Luhn said. Although, it’s still higher than almost every year in the past decade, according to data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
“Another record-breaking class of freshmen means one thing: more students are choosing the University of Houston,” said Diane Z. Chase, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at UH. “They are discovering that the University is the perfect place to live, learn and launch their academic careers.”
The university also saw an increase in honors and graduate college enrollment, and students received 18% more merit scholarships than last year.
Zooming out
Last year, college enrollment reached an all-time high in Texas with more than 1.6 million students enrolled, according to preliminary numbers from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The board has not published an updated analysis for this year.
UH was among colleges with enrollment growth last year and broke its record with almost 49,000 students enrolled, according to a 2025 news release. The college also saw all-time high enrollment numbers at its Katy and Sugar Land campuses.
Last year, Katy’s campus saw a 73% increase with nearly 1,000 students enrolled and the Sugar Land campus had nearly 5,000 students, per the release. This year, preliminary numbers show the amount of students taking classes in Katy went up 49% from last fall, said Inez Hutchinson, the senior director of university communications for the Sugar Land and Katy campuses.
Looking forward
Luhn said the university will finalize more of this academic year’s data, including total enrollment rate, after the 12th class day.
