2022 Salem College Incoming Class Size Doubles
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AUGUST 23, 2022)— Salem College has another reason to celebrate during its 250th anniversary year. This year’s incoming class of first-year and transfer students at Salem College, is 109 percent larger than the incoming class size last year. Members of the Class of 2026 hail from Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Virginia, Texas and Italy.
The Salem College class of 2026 demonstrates its strength in diversity and social mobility. With a mean high school GPA of 3.79, 52 percent of the Class are of diverse racial and/or ethnic identity, 47 percent are the first in their family to attend college and 55 percent of incoming first-year students will receive Federal Pell Grants. This record of success contributed to Salem’s 2022 U.S. News Best Colleges No. 4 ranking as the best in America among National Liberal Arts Colleges in the category of Top Performers on Social Mobility.
This fall, Salem College also welcomes its first group of Salem Scholars, a competitive program for high achieving high school students who want to become health leaders. Salem Scholars receive a four-year full tuition scholarship, an health-related study abroad opportunity, cohort-based classes, health leader mentors and engage in wellness programming. Among them is Selina Zhang of Bourbonnais, Illinois, who graduated from high school with a 4.39 GPA. Selina was active in robotics, the Varsity Scholarship Bowl and the National Art Honors Society and is fluent in Mandarin. Selina is interested in the role of art in health and the architecture of clinical spaces. She plans to major in visual and performing arts with a focus on the architecture of effective clinical spaces.
Another member of the Class of 2026, Kayla Stanford of Upper Marlboro, Maryland is the 2022 recipient of the Robert E. Elberson Scholarship award, a full-tuition scholarship given to one student each year that includes a semester of study at Harlaxton College in Grantham, England. A dancer for seven years, Kayla was a 4.3 GPA student at Frederick Douglass High School. She also created a non-profit organization, “Operation Impact Smiles,” to promote oral health among veterans and she worked in cybersecurity through a student youth employment program. Kayla plans to become a dermatologist and said she intends to “encourage other African American girls to enter medicine to increase the number of black female physicians.”
This academic year, Salem College received the largest pool of undergraduate applications in its history, comprising applicants from every state and more than 30 nations. This fall, the school plans to travel to high schools across the nation for the first time in more than five years.
About Salem Academy and College
Celebrating 250 years, Salem Academy and College is built upon a foundation of empowering and preparing girls and women from all around the world to effect change, shatter expectations and lead. The institution focuses on developing tomorrow’s health leaders and change agents in the STEAM fields and liberal arts. Salem Academy and College is ranked No. 4 among National Liberal Arts Colleges in the category of Top Performers on Social Mobility in the 2022 edition of U.S. News Best Colleges.
Salem Academy and College is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a vibrant college town known for arts and innovation. For more information about Salem Academy, please visit SalemAcademy.com. For more information about Salem College, please visit Salem.edu.
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