Student applications to DU have increased by 33 percent this year, reaching a total of just over 20,000, and a total of 10,454 students have been accepted for the 2013-2014 school year according to Todd Rinehart, director of admissions.
Completed applications, or applications which have been submitted with all components necessary for staff to make an admissions decision, have also increased this year by 21 percent to a total of 13,642.
“We have had large increases (in applications) every year for a number of years,” said Rinehart. “It’s attributable to a few things. Our students do a good job just through word of mouth sharing the great experiences they are having, and that in itself is helping to grow our reputation.”
Although the university is receiving more applications, Rinehart said the number of undergraduate students will remain at about 5,000. Admissions is looking to enroll 1,375 new first-year students for the fall quarter, an increase of 124 students over last year’s budgeted goal of 1,214.
Each year, the target number of students university staff wants to enroll is determined by the graduation numbers from the previous year. Because the university’s four-year graduation rates have increased, according to Rinehart, the university is able to admit more first-year students.
“Students are graduating more efficiently,” said Rinehart. “Which is allowing us to bring in additional students on the front end.”
The demographics of students applying and being admitted to the university have remained the same, according to Rinehart, with a few exceptions. Out-of-state students accepted to the university has increased to 7,414 from 4,697 last year. Admitted students who identify as students of color also saw a rise from 1,549 last year, then the largest pool of students of color to be admitted in a year, to 2,017 this year.
In last year’s enrollment class, 250 enrolled students, or 20 percent, identified as students of color. That number will not be known for this year’s class until the deadline for student acceptance, May 1.
Acceptance of international students remained steady with the university admitting 540 this year compared to 555 last year.
However, applications from international students dropped from 1900 received last year to 1500 received this year. Rinehart said this is due to a change made by the admissions office requiring students in China to participate in an interview to access English proficiency.
“Because of that requirement, we believe, fewer students have applied. But the ones who have applied are more qualified and more proficient in English so that’s a good thing both for the students and for DU,” said Rinehart.
China is the only country where the interview was implemented as part of the admissions process.
Rinehart said the admissions department brought in seasonal employees and found more efficient ways to access and admit students because of the increase.
Though the number of applicants to the university has risen, the academic profile of those being admitted has stayed the same, according to Rinehart. The average GPA of admitted students is 3.72, while the average scores on the SAT is 1233 on a 1600 scale and a 28 on the ACT.
“They (the scores) are basically identical to a year ago,” said Rinehart. “That actually speaks to the strong pool of applicants we had this year when you consider we admitted more students because our class would be larger this fall.”
Rinehart also attributed the rise in applications to a new marketing campaign. The university is now purchasing more information on students made available when they check a box allowing schools to view their academic profiles while taking the SAT and ACTs. The university is then able to reach out to students they are interested in.
“We have been purchasing more names than we have in the past and doing it in a strategic way. Selecting students of a certain academic profile, selecting students from certain regions of the country,” said Rinehart. “We try to continue to grow the number of students who are considering DU. And it’s been effective. It’s worked.”
