UPDATE: Kent State Touts Smartest-Ever Freshman Class

Editor's note: this story was updated with admissions information Sept. 7.

Officials at say this year's freshman class has the best academic profile of any class in the university's 102-year history.

Numbers released Wednesday by the university show freshman at the Kent campus have an average high school grade point average of 3.27.

And 70 percent of freshmen have a high school GPA of 3.0 or better, according to the university.

Kent State President Lester Lefton said university admissions staff selected the best students from more than 21,000 applicants this year.

"The quality of this year’s freshman class is fantastic," Lefton said in prepared remarks.

University officials also said ACT scores have risen with an average of 22.6 this year.

Here's how the academic profiles break down over the past few years:

This year, freshmen in Kent State’s Honors College have an average high school GPA of 3.83 and an average ACT score of 28.97.

The university also has become more strict in its admissions.

This year, Kent State's admission rate for fall 2012 is 83.1 percent. Last year, the fall 2011 admission rate was 87.4 percent.

T. David Garcia, Kent State’s associate vice president for enrollment management, said in recent years the university had focused on growing its freshmen classes.

"Now, rather than quantity, our focus is on the quality of our students," Garcia said.

In recent semesters the university has . This fall, the university expects to see the second-highest freshman class in Kent State history.

Although official fall enrollment numbers won't be available until the 15th day of classes.