Sexual assault reports at the University of Montana in the past year may have taken a toll at the university's enrolment more than predicted.

The university announced that it has experienced an enrolment drop for the autumn semester 2012, after graduating a record number of students in the last academic year.

According to the UM Registrar's Office, the autumn total headcount enrolment is 14,943, which is 726 fewer than the record enrolment logged one year ago.

The number of students on the central mountain campus is 12,476, a decline of 390 students. Student headcount at Missoula College, the former College of Technology that has been part of UM since 1994, is 2,467, down 336 students.

Though these figures are not final, officials are not expecting any major turnaround.

Officials at the university do not attribute the fall in numbers to the university's handling of the sexual assault reports.

Peggy Kuhr, UM interim vice president for integrated communications, told the Missoulian that no one can certainly figure out whether there was a direct correlation between the drop in enrolment and months of publicity about UM's handling of sexual assault reports, and ongoing investigations into the school by the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Education and the NCAA.

On a positive note, the university has reported that its students are better prepared for college this year.

According to UM, this year's freshman class has a higher percentage of students who have taken UM's recommended full-college preparatory curriculum.

More than half of the freshman class - 52 percent - meet the recommendations, up from 44 percent in 2011.

Placement tests this year also show that more numbers of UM freshmen are prepared for college-level writing and college-level math classes.

A total of 82 percent are college-math ready-compared with 75 percent in 2011-and 94 percent are ready for college writing courses-up from 90 percent.

"We're pleased that so many students this year are better prepared than ever for the college experience," said UM President Royce Engstorm.

"It means that we can focus our time with our students on sharing the knowledge and skills they need to get jobs and succeed professionally upon graduation."

The enrolment rates might have taken a hit, but the university is confident about the success of students who did enrol.