Reflecting the larger trend at the University of Houston, the Cullen College of Engineering has seen an incredible surge in undergraduate enrollment for its Fall 2025 cohort, which is the largest ever one-year increase in the history of the college.
The Fall 2025 class consists of 1,934 undergraduate students — 1,116 freshmen and 818 transfer students. This is an increase of 18.5 percent in total newstudents from the undergraduate enrollment of Fall 2024, and a 28.1 percent increase in freshmen enrollment. Both are the highest increases among all UH colleges for Fall 2025.
Jagannatha “J.R.” Rao, Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Distance Learning, said he was pleased to see the hard work being done by the college and the university to raise its profile and level of instruction reflected concretely in enrollment numbers.
“The Cullen College is known for its relentless focus on student success, and we are gratified to see how we are a destination of choice for so many students,” he said. “This is a testament to the quality and breadth of our academic programs, and is also reflective of how well our students do upon graduation.”
Alex Landon is a professor of practice at Cullen and helps lead recruitment efforts.
“Andres Acosta, our Recruitment Manager, and his incredible team of student ambassadors are the heart of our outreach efforts," she said. "Their energy, passion and commitment made a huge impact on our record enrollment. From hosting personalized tours to connecting through virtual meetings, they give opportunities for prospective students to see all that’s happening in the College and help each student envision their own path at Cullen and at UH.”
Across UH, total enrollment is about 49,000 students, the largest student body in the university’s history. UH has its largest freshman class ever of 6,715 students, as well as 4,500 transfers. Applications reached historic highs with more than 48,000 freshman applications — an increase of 12 percent year-over-year — and more than 75,000 total applications across undergraduate and graduate programs.
Much of the growth at Cullen is fueled by the investment of the college, the university system and local communities in the Sugar Land and Katy campuses.
Nearly 1,000 UH students are taking classes at the campus in Katy, a 73 percent increase from last year, fueled by expanded course offerings from Cullen, the C.T. Bauer College of Business, the College of Education, Natural Sciences & Mathematics, and Liberal Arts & Social Sciences.
Nearly 5,000 UH students are attending classes in Sugar Land, the most in that campus’s history. Students now benefit from the new Sugar Land Academic Building II, a 75,000-square-foot facility with modern labs, technology-focused programs and collaborative learning spaces that opened this fall.
Current high school and non-UH college students who want to learn more are encouraged to schedule a personalized tour or virtual meeting with Cullen College Recruitment Ambassadors here: https://calendly.com/uh-eng.
Press release compiled by writer Stephen Greenwell, with additional information from the UH Newsroom.