TU students four times more likely to have a Leap Day birthday than national average

February 27, 2020

Leap day comes every four years, but there will be a high number of Towson University students celebrating February 29 birthdays this year.

In fact, 64 of the approximately 23,000 students on campus will be blowing out candles Saturday. That amounts to one in 360 currently enrolled students being born on February 29. That number is astounding considering it's about four times higher than the U.S. average of 1 in 1,461 people born on Leap Day.

Leap Days occur because the earth's orbit around the sun takes six hours longer than 365 days. A leap day helps realign the earth's position in the solar system. So, 2020 will have 366 days on the calendar — meaning those born on Feb. 29 won't have to decide if they'll celebrate their birthday on Feb. 28 or March 1 this year.

Seniors account for the bulk of TU's Leap Day babies with 16. There are 12 graduate students with Leap Day birthdays.

Recent Leap Years have included 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. The next Leap Year will occur in 2024.