Hundreds of Temple students arrive on campus for new school year, thousands more expected this week

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Early move-in is underway at Temple University in Philadelphia as the school welcomes its most diverse class while working to bring the number of students living on campus back to pre-pandemic levels.

"I'm a little nervous. I'm also a little excited," said student Bennett Ryerson of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

It was a rush of emotions on campus.

"Kind of an emotional trainwreck, but that's how we do it," said Elon Silverman of Stratford, Connecticut.

Even though Elon Silverman is seeing his youngest off to college, this is the first time he says he's doing it.

"My oldest commuted to college and my son in the middle went to the Navy," Silverman said. "My daughter Emily is a freshman this year, starting out at Temple."

Emily is among 4,000 students who will be living on campus this year.

"It's slightly under from where we were pre-pandemic. We're still rebuilding after not being able to house students on campus during that time period," said Ryan Young, director of Residential Life.

Young said they are rebinding while welcoming more returning students than they have in the past couple of years.

"If was real easy to move in. Excited to be back on campus. This is my senior year," said Abria Gaines of Chestnut Hill.

Gaines is a pro at the move-in process by now. Other students like Ranesh Mopuru are just starting out.

The university released the following data to Action News:

Temple University will welcome nearly 4,000 new first-year students, including nearly 3,000 first-year and transfer residential students, this week when the Class of 2027 officially moves onto campus Monday, Aug. 21 through Thursday, Aug. 24. This year's class is the most diverse group in Temple's history as more than 56% of the new class are students of color, which marks a 5.6% increase from last year.

The group is also academically strong, boasting an average GPA of 3.39 and an average SAT score of 1,284, which is up from 1,275 last year.

The Class of 2027 comes to North Philadelphia from all across the world. More than 200 students come from 54 countries outside the U.S. Out-of-state students make up more than 40% of the incoming class, which represents the largest-ever percentage of domestic out-of-state students to attend Temple.