It was one of the first schools of its kind in the country – and this fall, Barrett Honors College will land another first.

Barrett, the honors college at Arizona State University, is opening a new, free-standing campus for the fall 2009 semester – the first of its kind at a public university.

The new eight-acre campus will have seven buildings and house 1,700 students. (Total enrollment is about 2,700.)  Nearly 95% of the dorms rooms already have been reserved.

In addition to dorms, the campus will have its own dining center, classrooms, offices, computer lab, fitness center, outside activity courts and an amphitheater.

Applications are up at Barrett 38% over last year. In 2008, 1,450 freshmen applied for admission. This year, the number has jumped to 2,000.

An even more eye-opening statistic: The school has more National Merit Scholars than Princeton, Yale or Stanford.

While Barrett is seeing a growing number of applicants from out of state, about 72% of the incoming freshmen are from Arizona.

Does your school have an honors college or program? Is enrollment on the rise? Let us know in the comments section below.

Tags: Arizona State University, Barrett Honors College