The University of Southern Mississippi announced that the new freshmen class is the most academically talented in the university’s recorded history with the students having the highest GPA and ACT score of any other class.

According to Southern Miss Now, there has been a renewed focus on student recruitment and retention and graduation rates have improved.

Here are the statistics:

Fall 2014 semester: 14,845 students enrolled, average GPA of 3.26, ACT score of 22.5, the highest known in university history.

Fall 2013 semester: 15,249 students enrolled, average high school GPA was 3.21, an increase of 3.18 in Fall 2012.

USM has also enrolled 1,531 new transfer students who have an average GPA of 3.0.

Southern Miss Now said due to the policy changes to strengthen the academic quality of the student body, an earlier admission deadline was set for new freshmen. The new admission deadline was July 1, 2014. After this date, new freshman were considered on a case-by-case basis.

“While others across the country may have opted to grow enrollment at any or all costs, including quality, we have chosen a different path,” said Rodney Bennett, USM president.