<p>From: Clemson</a> Newsroom</p>
<p>The 2010-11 academic year is under way at Clemson University, and nearly 3,000 freshmen were learning the way around campus Wednesday.</p>
<p>A record-setting 16,867 students applied to Clemson this year, a 4 percent increase over last year and the largest number of freshman applications in university history.</p>
<p>These application numbers indicate the continued growing interest in a quality education and complete student experience that is provided at Clemson, said Robert Barkley, director of undergraduate admissions.</p>
<p>The unofficial average SAT score of the incoming class is 1229. About half of the incoming freshmen were in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating classes.</p>
<p>The university also received a record number of transfer applications: 2,253, a 12 percent increase over last year. Clemson expects a transfer class of 1,050.</p>
<p>Approximately 325 of the enrolled transfers are students who successfully completed the academic requirements for the Bridge to Clemson program, Barkley said.</p>
<p>The Bridge to Clemson program is a collaboration with Tri-County Technical College in Pendleton in which students take classes for a year at Tri-County Tech and can transfer to Clemson providing academic requirements are met.</p>