High school seniors take note: It might be a little harder to get into UConn this year.
The University of Connecticut announced Thursday a 10 percent jump in applications and an increase in average SAT scores among applicants. Admissions Director Nathan Fuerst said the numbers suggest that it will be more competitive to get admitted this year, but it’s too soon to say whether that will be the case.
“We’re thrilled,” Fuerst said, adding that the applications “have been rolling in heavy all fall.” The deadline was Wednesday.
Fuerst said that the number of students who hope to attend UConn grew to 29,500 and that their SAT scores average 12 points higher than last year. There are also 16 percent more minority applicants.
The university aims to have 3,550 students enroll in September — about 200 fewer than this past year, when an unexpectedly high number of admitted students opted to go to UConn.
Fuerst attributed the increase in applications to the growing academic reputation of the university, its affordability, its commitment to strengthening key programs and to greater efforts to reach out to high school students.
“Nothing speaks more loudly about the academic reputation, attractiveness, and value of a university like a huge rise in applications,” President Susan Herbst said in a statement. “It is a widespread recognition of the excellence of our faculty, our student experience, and our alumni.”
The increase in the number of applicants comes as some universities and colleges, especially in the Northeast, are concerned about a possible decline in the number of applicants because of the shrinking population of 18-year-olds.
In Connecticut, state officials say the number of high school graduates is shrinking at a rate of 1.8 percent each year and is expected to continue to do so until 2020 as the population of 18-year-olds declines. Connecticut’s regional state universities and community college system have faced a decline in enrollment of about 2 percent this school year.
“The fact that we’re seeing an increase in applications at UConn despite a decline in the number of students eligible to go to college is a really good sign,” Fuerst said. “We’re also seeing an increase in the quality of the applicant pool, which is exciting for us as we work to select the very best among them to come to UConn.”
Still, data indicate that most colleges — about two-thirds — are still reporting increases in applications, even with the slight decline in high school graduates nationally, according to David Hawkins, director of public policy and research for the National Association for College Admission Counseling.
But Hawkins said the decline in high school graduates in the Northeast is sharper than elsewhere. “Probably UConn is justified in feeling a sense of relief given where they are geographically,” Hawkins said.
He said that applications are on the rise generally “regardless of what the population looks like” because it is so much easier to apply online using the Common Application. “Students are submitting more applications per-capita than at any time in the past,” Hawkins said.
Last year, UConn experienced a slight decline in applications, which Fuerst said might have been because it dropped its early action program and switched to a Jan. 15 deadline for all applications.
However, the university was taken by surprise last year when about 300 more students accepted offers of admission than expected, pushing the size of the freshman class to 3,755.
At the time, university officials attributed the higher-than-expected rate of enrollment to the excitement about Next Generation Connecticut, the university’s $1.5 billion decadelong plan to transform the university’s science, technology and math programs.
The commitment to those programs — including engineering, digital media and allied health sciences — is part of the reason, university officials believe, that applications are up this year.
UConn’s climb in various national rankings in recent years might also contribute to greater awareness of the school, Fuerst said. He noted that last month UConn was named No. 25 on the Kiplinger’s Personal Finance’s list of 100 best values in public colleges for 2013-14. In addition, it has been ranked No. 19 in the U.S. News & World Report ranking and No. 1 for “environmental stewardship” on the Sierra Club’s “Cool Schools” list.
“Those certainly catch students’ attention,” Fuerst said.
Tuition and fees, including room and board, for an in-state student at UConn will be $23,744 for the 2013-14 school year. For an out-of-state student, the bill will be $42,692.
In addition, Fuerst said, he has a larger staff this year — up by two — and it has reached out more aggressively to high schools in Connecticut and elsewhere.
“We’re making sure that we’re getting into all the schools in a way we haven’t in the past,” said Fuerst.
He said efforts have also been increased “to really attract students we believe will be a good fit for UConn.”
Fuerst declined to provide the average SAT score in this year’s applicant pool but said it is about 1,200 out of a possible 1,600 on the math and verbal portions of the test. This year’s freshmen scored an average of 1,233 on the two tests.
He said the increase in applications comes from in-state, out-of-state and internationally. “There’s an increase in interest really across the board,” he said, but the greatest focus of interest comes from students in Connecticut, the Northeast and surrounding states.
By Kathleen Megan, Hartford Courant