BLOOMINGTON — A new school year is underway in Bloomington and there are officially more Hoosiers on campus than ever before.

Indiana University officially counted 48,626 undergraduates at its flagship campus, including a freshman class of just more than 10,000 students.
"It's exciting to see that people do want to come to IU," said Brenda Stopher, the university's vice president of student enrollment. "That says we're doing something right."

More than 5,000 freshmen in Bloomington are from Indiana, which means there are slightly more in-state students than out-of-state students in the incoming class.
Isaiah Julkes, a freshman from East Chicago, said staying in-state to attend IU was his childhood dream.

"In my household, I saw a lot of IU stuff. My mom has IU mugs and IU everything," said Julkes, who is studying kinesiology. "I'm very, very excited. I'm ready to embark on my journey as far as getting these prerequisites out of the way."
Jorana Banzeviciute, a junior from the Northwest Indiana town of Chesterton, said she has no regrets about staying in the Hoosier State for her studies.
"I'm an international studies major and this is a little global club in Indiana," Banzeviciute said. "You don't get that easily, especially in the Midwest, that's just so amazing. Having that interest while not having to travel far and be close to my family, it really struck me."

Stopher said in-state retention is not just important for Indiana University, but for the state itself after the students graduate.
"We're going to help bring well-educated, prepared students to the workforce needs of Indiana," Stopher said.

Beyond Bloomington, IU recorded more than 89,000 students across all of its campuses. When counting all IU branches, more than 70 percent of students are from Indiana.
-
How you can help Indy get better roads, more trails and improved transportation
Do you want better roads, more trails or improved public transportation? A new survey wants to help make it happen, but it can only do so if residents fill it out.
As temperatures drop, more spiders sneak into Indiana homes
While it's fun to see spider-themed decorations during spooky season, it may not be quite as fun for homeowners to find actual spiders inside their house.Warren Township Schools fires teacher and former dance coach
Warren Township Schools says it fired a teacher who was a former dance coach at Warren Central High School on Thursday.
Follow-up findings on Hogsett administration accusations released
The follow-up findings regarding Mayor Joe Hogsett's handling of allegations of sexual harassment of former chief of staff Thomas Cook were released on Thursday.