North Carolina A&T State University announced yesterday a fall enrollment total of 111,877 in the fall term that just began, expanding the student body to its largest size ever and adding significantly to a growth trend that began in 2013.

The growth rate this fall of 6.3 percent means that over the past five years, N.C. A&T has added more than 1,300 students in direct response to A&T Preeminence 2020, the institution’s strategic plan, which A&T began implementing in 2011. That document calls for the Land Grant university to expand to an overall enrollment of 13,500 over the next three years.

This fall alone adds 700 students to A&T’s overall headcount – one of the single biggest increases in A&T history – and almost certainly cements the university’s status as America’s largest historically black college or university, a status it has held since 2014.

“The growth we’re experiencing this fall illustrates how much students, parents and families want to be part of the North Carolina A&T experience,” said Chancellor Harold L. Martin Sr. “We deliver an education that not only prepares our students for rewarding careers in an increasingly competitive global marketplace, we deeply value each and every individual who entrusts us with that responsibility. Our students know that their success matters here.”

The university’s growth was driven in large part by 2,309 new freshmen, the largest first-year class in N.C. A&T history, as well as its most academically accomplished, with an average GPA of 3.51, average SAT score of 1,023 and average ACT of 20.