This year San Diego State’s freshmen class is the highest-achieving in the history of the university.

A census taken of the university shows that among the 4,976 first-time freshmen, the average high school GPA among them is 3.69 up from 3.60 the year before, and the average SAT score is 1,115 up from 1,103 the year before.

“SDSU is attracting a high caliber of students every year and every year I can see it getting more and more competitive,” Deniece Chideme, an admissions counselor at SDSU said.

The application pool was more competitive than ever before, with a record of 79,137 undergraduate applications received for the 2014-15 academic year.

“The number of students we can admit is based on funding and last year we received more funding this allowed the university to service more students,” said Chideme.

Among the freshmen class, 58.8 percent are students of color.

Programs such as Casa Azteca help target diverse students that meet the qualifications needed to get admitted into SDSU.

“We are delighted by this development as it shows that the strategic plan to advance student success, diversity and academic quality continues to yield the desired results,” SDSU Provost Chukuka S. Enwemeka said in a press release.

The freshmen class averaged 15 units this semester. The freshmen class are most interested in kinesiology, biology, management, psychology, mechanical engineering and marketing for their majors, according to SDSU News Center.

The university also welcomes the largest incoming class of University Honors students.

Chideme said the University’s retention rate has increased along with the caliber of students with more support for students