The freshman class, usually the lowest class in academic proficiency, had a better over-all average than the class of 1956 last year, according to figures released yesterday by Sargent Kennedy, Registrar of the College.

Kennedy also released the minimum averages for the upper half, two-thirds, and three-quarters of all but last year's senior class, for draft card statistics.

The Class of 1956 placed 33.3 percent on the Dean's List for the academic year, a figure surpassed by both the freshman and junior classes, with 38.8 and 44.3 respectively. The largest disparity was in Group III, where the Class of 1955 placed 27.9 percent to 20.0 percent of the sophomore class. 1957 had 22.3 percent in Group III.

Last year's freshman had to have at least two Bs, one C plus, and one C to rank him in the top half of his class and exempt him from the draft. Three C pluses and a C would place a member of 1956 in the upper two-thirds, while the same grades would put a junior into the necessary top three-quarters.

Although the class of 1957 had more Dean's list men than last year's Sophomore class, it also had a slight edge in the bottom two groups on a percentage basis. The Class of 1955 had only 0.8 percent in Group VI, compared to 1.9 percent of the Sophomores and 2.1 percent of the Freshmen.

The sophomore class had 14.2 percent termed "insufficient and unsatisfactory," compared to 11.1 percent of the junior class and 9.7 percent of the freshman class. The figures released by Kennedy did not include the senior rankings nor odd classifications.