{"id":112414,"date":"2016-05-09T09:21:58","date_gmt":"2016-05-09T13:21:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=112414"},"modified":"2016-05-10T09:19:15","modified_gmt":"2016-05-10T13:19:15","slug":"uconn-sets-new-record-freshman-applications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2016\/05\/uconn-sets-new-record-freshman-applications\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn Sets New Record for Freshman Applications"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nearly 36,000 aspiring Huskies applied to join UConn as freshmen in Storrs this fall, setting a new applications record from Connecticut residents and drawing interest from students in more than 100 nations worldwide.<\/p>\n

More than 35,900 applicants competed for about 3,800 spots at Storrs and about 1,400 at the Hartford, Stamford, Waterbury, and Avery Point campuses. With additional applications still coming in for the regional campuses, the total number will exceed 36,000.<\/p>\n

While this year\u2019s application figures from aspiring UConn freshmen are a new record, the numbers have increased steadily since 2000, when the University received 12,120 applications.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The growth in freshman applications since 1995. (John Bailey\/UConn Graphic)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Based on deposits received by May 1, it is clear that the fall 2016 freshmen at Storrs will be, once again, among the most academically talented and most ethnically and geographically diverse classes in UConn\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

On March 1, UConn started notifying students who were being offered admission, and officials say they are thrilled by those who\u2019ve accepted a seat for this fall among the Class of 2020.<\/p>\n

The application count sets a new record, and contains a record number of applicants from Connecticut high school seniors \u2013 despite the decline in the number of students graduating from state schools as Connecticut\u2019s population ages.<\/p>\n

The average SAT score of this year\u2019s applicants is 4 points higher than last year\u2019s, and applications came from all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and 109 countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe explosive growth in applications to UConn over time and this year\u2019s record-high numbers are directly tied to our ability to provide an exceptional academic experience at a competitive cost,\u201d says University President Susan Herbst.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese numbers are a strong vote of confidence in UConn from talented prospective students and their families,\u201d she adds. \u201cMaintaining and building on our academic quality to ensure this trend continues is our challenge in the years ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

UConn will continue to accept applications until July 1 for its regional campuses.<\/p>\n

\n

The explosive growth in applications to UConn over time and this year\u2019s record-high numbers are directly tied to our ability to provide an exceptional academic experience at a competitive cost. — President Susan Herbst<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Once again, the jump in UConn applications runs counter to national and regional trends, in which declines in the number of high school graduates have caused many universities to see their applications and enrollments level off or decrease.<\/p>\n

A report<\/a> released in April by the U.S. Department of Education estimates a decline of nearly 12 percent by 2024 in the number of students enrolled in Connecticut high schools, with about 5,400 fewer graduating.<\/p>\n

Connecticut already experienced a 3.6 percent drop in school enrollment at all levels between 2006 and 2011, the report says. Other Northeast states from which UConn traditionally draws students have also experienced declines that are expected to continue.<\/p>\n

However, UConn\u2019s application trends run counter to those decreases.<\/p>\n

The University has been capturing a larger and more talented piece of the shrinking pie, particularly as special initiatives such as STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) programs and the Honors Program have drawn interest from high-achieving students.<\/p>\n

Biomedical and mechanical engineering, computer sciences, and other STEM programs are among the applicants\u2019 popular choices as potential majors, along with perennial favorites in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the School of Business, and other schools and colleges.<\/p>\n

UConn\u2019s reputation for academic excellence, value, commitment to the environment, and service have been recognized by several outside entities in recent years, all of which also are thought to be contributing to the upswing in applications.<\/p>\n

UConn has held strong spots each year on the Kiplinger\u2019s Personal Finance\u2019s list of 100 best values in public colleges, and consistently is a Top 25 institution in the annual U.S. News & World Report\u2019s ranking of the best public universities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith more than one of every three Connecticut high school seniors applying to UConn, it is fair to say that students recognize the incredible opportunities that await them here,\u201d says Nathan Fuerst, UConn\u2019s director of undergraduate admissions.<\/p>\n

University officials also have been more aggressively reaching out directly to talented students statewide and nationally who may be good candidates for UConn.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year’s applications are nearing 36,000, representing growth that is counter to the trend of declining applications nationally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":112290,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[173,92,174,2225,90,2227,2233],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1932],"class_list":["post-112414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uconn-avery-point","category-uconn-hartford","category-uconn-stamford","category-uconn-storrs","category-uconn-waterbury","category-uconn-edu-homepage","category-university-news"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-10 16:40:23","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112414"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112438,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112414\/revisions\/112438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/112290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112414"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=112414"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=112414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}