Don’t be surprised if you hear a few more accents on campus this fall — and not ones that are Southern.

The number of international students in this fall’s freshman class numbers 26, compared to 12 in 1998. And the group of first-year students includes a record number of African-Americans — 40.

The Admissions Office received 3,340 applications, the second highest total in the school’s history, while enrolling a freshman class of 690 (720 new students in all). This group of students also found it more difficult to get into Furman than any other group to precede them , as the acceptance rate fell from 68 to 65 percent.

"This has been another exceptionally strong year in admissions," says Woody O’Cain, director of admissions. "We were able to increase diversity in our student body while being more selective. And on paper this is one of the strongest classes academically."

Fifty students in the class were valedictorians, 22 were salutatorians and 40 were National Merit finalists. Sixty-four percent of them ranked in the top 10 percent of their graduating class. The SAT scores remained strong, with the middle 50 percent scoring between 1150 and 1330.

The expanding campus, the university’s growing reputation for academic excellence, enhanced recruiting efforts and positive steps taken in coordination with the Office of Marketing and Public Relations are attracting more and brighter students to Furman, says O’Cain. External factors such as a healthy economy and an increasing number of high school graduates also translate into a bigger market for private higher education.

O’Cain says Furman’s growing international reputation can be linked to relationships cultivated by Bill Lavery, director of the Center for International Education, and Benny Walker, vice president for enrollment. Countries represented in the class of 2003 are Kenya, France, South Africa, Asia, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Africa, Sweden, Greece, Cayman Islands, Canada, China, Japan, Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Singapore and Zimbabwe.