Clemson University officials told its trustees they are expecting this year’s freshman class of 2,950 students to be the strongest class ever academically.

Marvin Carmichael, chief of staff for President James Barker, says:

At this point in time the students that we feel are still active in planning to come this fall have the highest SATs, the highest class rank, and show the strongest records that we’ve seen.

Carmichael says in spite of a tuition increase, the number of applications for Clemson are at an all-time high too. He says that parents should not worry about sticker shock:

We feel Clemson is affordable. And I think students and families need to look at net cost. For example, there will be no entering freshmen from South Carolina this year paying sticker price. 99 percent of them will receive a state scholarship. And then the balance will receive financial aid of some sort–that’s a given.

Clemson officials say this fall they will also see an increase in transfer students.

President James F. Barker reported that the university’s version of an economic stimulus plan for students — a need-based program– will continue this year in order to help students who have been there at least three years. Carmichael explains:

These are people who may not necessarily have retained their life scholarship but are on the track to graduate. So we are targeting lowest income students, allowing them to receive up to $2,000 if they are a senior and are graduating, assuming they have grades for graduation. So our goal is for those students who just need a slight bump to get them over the edge to graduate, we want them to go ahead and graduate and be productive citizens.

Clemson’s board also approved a $797 million budget for fiscal year 2010-2011 that shows a 17 percent decrease in administrative and support costs, reflecting the impact of state budget cuts, but also an anticipated 23 percent increase in scholarships and fellowships awarded to students.