News

St. Olaf College recently welcomed the Class of 2021, a talented group of 791 first-year students that is the most diverse in the college’s history.

The class includes:

• Students from 495 high schools in 41 states and 51 countries
• 12% international students
• 20% domestic students of color
• 18% first-generation college students
• 47 Davis United World College Scholars
• 13 National Merit Finalists
• 10 students who were admitted last year and chose to defer, spending a gap year participating in Semester at Sea, studying and traveling in Norway and Germany, and volunteering in locations around the world

And while these numbers provide some insight into the incoming class, each new group of students is more than just a compilation of statistics.

The Class of 2021 also includes:

• A student who excels at voice imitation, including all of the Downton Abbey characters
• Another who is in a family bluegrass band — and sometimes plays washboard
• One student who knows how to build boats
• Another who plans to publish their first novel in 2017
• One who was their school district’s spelling bee champion
• Another who is one of the youngest certified rugby referees in Wisconsin
• A student who is a black sash in Kung-Fu
• One who plans to run to become Chicago’s mayor
• Another who intends to become the Poet-Laureate of the United States

Welcome, Class of 2021!

Watch a video of the class settling in on campus: