From its modest beginnings, UA has grown to 35,000 students and national prominence

Another record-size class of incoming UA students will unload their bags and step onto campus for their first class at UA on Aug. 26.

While students from Tucson will have longstanding familiarity with UA, others will come to campus having never seen UA ÷ aside from glossy viewbook photos.

Hereās a look at the institution this yearās freshmen will find.

Founded in 1885, 27 years before Arizona became a state, UA has grown to a university of 35,747 students. In the first year of class, in 1891, there were only six faculty and 32 students.

In the past two years, the freshmen class has broken records in terms of size. In fall 2001 there were about 6,100 freshmen, shattering the former record of 5,526 set in 2000, according to the UA Fact Book of 2001-2002.

Of the total number of students, 27,532 are undergraduates and 20 percent of undergraduates typically live on campus.

One-third of UA students transferred to the university from other schools.

Peter Likins, UAās 18th president, oversees 13,918 employees and a campus that spans 356 acres.

UAās largest colleges include the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, with 4,991 students; Eller College of Business & Public Administration, with 4,905; University College, with 3,633; and the College of Science, with 2,924 as of fall 2001.

A number of UA colleges and departments have received good reviews by US News and World Report. The Management Information Systems Department is ranked fourth best in the country. U.S. News dubs the astronomy department ćamong the nationās best,ä and the Honors College is called ćone of the nationās largest and most selective honors programs.ä

The UA student to faculty ratio is 18:1.

ćThe UA is not very different from what I expected from the viewbook,ä said Veronica Rivera, an undecided freshman.

As a land grant university, UA receives federal funds to pay for the development of agricultural and mechanical programs.

But state tax revenues ÷ a key source of UA funding ÷ fell last year and UA took a cut in funding, along with most other state-supported institutions.

Including lower-than-expected raises for UA employees, $20,332,400 was cut from UAās approximate billion-dollar budget in 2001-2002.

Arizona International College ÷ a small, public, liberal arts college that moved onto the UA campus in 1997 ÷ will close because of the budget cuts. Those currently enrolled in the college have the option of continuing toward their degrees, but no new students will be admitted.

There will also be reduced custodial services, a cut in funds for building upkeep and an indefinite hold on construction of a UA satellite campus destined for north Tucson.

Related to the budget issues, UA has had trouble with ćbrain drain,ä or a loss of faculty to higher-paying jobs at other universities.

Tuition in the state of Arizona for universities is the 49th-lowest in the country. The Arizona Board of Regents, the board that oversees all three public Arizona universities, raised in-state tuition for this fall by 4 percent during an April meeting.

UA earned the distinction of being one of the first 50 schools to be recognized as a Research I University by the Carnegie Foundation in 1976. The foundation established criteria with which to rank the research programs of the more than 3,000 American universities.

UA is also the only public university in Arizona with a medical school.

ćA really big focus of the university is on the balance between research missions and undergraduate,ä said Carol Thompson, senior associate dean of students.

Athletically, UA competes in the National College Athletics Associationās Division I and in the Pacific-10 Conference. Recently, the athletic department was ranked ninth in the 2001-2002 Sears Directorsā Cup rankings of Division I collegiate athletics programs.