Yale opened its gates today to the Class of 2010, one of the most diverse in the University’s history.

As of yesterday, 1,319 students planned to matriculate at Yale this year out of 1,856 admitted students, said Jeff Brenzel, Yale’s dean of undergraduate admissions. This year’s yield of 71.1 percent is in line with last year’s record-setting 71.3 percent yield. In addition to these new arrivals, 22 students were admitted but chose to defer admission to next year.

Identical to last year’s figures, the median SAT verbal score for the class of 2010 is 750 and the median SAT math score is 740, Brenzel said. Of the 1,261 admitted students who took the SATs, 73.6 percent scored above a 700 on the verbal section, 19.6 percent scored between 600 and 690 on verbal and 2.2 percent scored between 500 and 590 on that section. On the math section, 70.2 percent scored above 700, 24 percent scored between 600 and 690, and 1.4 percent scored between 500 and 590, Brenzel said.

The students of the Class of 2010 come from all 50 states and from 50 countries around the world, eight more countries than were represented last year. As in past years, the Northeast — with 35.4 percent of the class — and the West — with 19.0 percent of the class — were the most heavily represented regions of the United States. Another 13.4 percent of students hail from the Midwest, 9.4 percent come from the South, 5.8 percent are Southwesterners, 6.1 percent are from the Mid-Atlantic, and 10.8 percent are from outside the United States.

The Class of 2010 is also racially diverse, with 31.1 percent of students identifying themselves as students of color, slightly less than last year’s 32.7 percent. Among the students in this group, 12.7 percent are Asian American, 9.1 percent are African American, 3.8 percent are Mexican American, 2.0 percent are Puerto Rican, 2.0 percent are Hispanic and 1.4 percent are Native American, according to the Admissions Office.

For this year?s class, 54.4 percent of students attended public schools and 45.6 percent attended independent, religious and international schools. The gender balance of the class is virtually even — 661 males and 658 females.

Students in the Class of 2010 are also an economically diverse group. About 41.9 percent of freshmen will receive financial aid from Yale — last year’s figure was 43 percent — and the University will give an average annual scholarship grant of $26,900 — slightly higher than last year’s $24,000 average — to these students, Director of Financial Aid Caesar Storlazzi said.

The freshmen arriving on campus Thursday expressed excitement, along with the requisite jitters. Rosanna Oh ’10 said she feels anxious because she hasn’t yet adjusted to campus life.

“I’m looking forward to getting into the community by joining intramurals and clubs,” Oh said.

Loide Marwanga ’10 said she was pleased with the down-to-earth vibe on campus.

“I’m most looking forward to taking classes that I couldn’t take in high school, like African American studies and different language classes,” Marwanga said.

Yale received 21,101 applications last year for the Class of 2010, a new Ivy League record.

— Staff Reporter Judy Wang contributed to this report.