The Fall 2025 semester began Monday at TCU with 13,000 students attending class. TCU says 2,700 of those are freshmen, making this the school’s biggest class of first-year students.
“This will be the largest class in the history of Texas Christian University, the most academically-capable class, and the most aspirational class,” says TCU Chancellor Daniel Pullin. “I’ve already talked to so many of our students. It’s so exciting to see their spirit of what’s possible here both at TCU and where their lives are going to go as a result of their TCU education.”
TCU held a “welcome home” party on Sesquicentennial Plaza Monday morning.
“It’s very lively,” a student from Seattle said. “They call it the purple carpet. They really go above and beyond when it comes to events for students.”
“All of us are new,” a student from Mexico said. “Okay, college life, this is new for us, and this is really nice.”
The student from Seattle said she likes how TCU draws a “diverse population” from across the country and around the world.
“It is a new place, but it still feels like home,” she said. “The southern hospitality just really comes through.”
TCU says students come from all 50 states and 90 countries, and 55.6% are from outside Texas.
“We believe, because of the economic miracle that is the North Texas market, we can build a university for the rest of the 21st century that operates at the intersection of academics and the community,” Pullin, the chancellor, says.
Pullin says that student body can then drive Fort Worth’s economic growth long-term, but students meeting each other for the first time Monday are also building long-term relationships of their own.
“Those shared life experiences will be memories for years, the friendships are authentic that you can lean on during good times and bad for decades to come,” he says.