BOULDER, Colo.—Applications to the University of Colorado are up 23 percent so far this year following a full-court press to attract more students, according to CU admissions officials.
As of Dec. 9, CU had received 15,910 applications. On the same date in 2012, CU had received 12,921 applications, said admissions director Kevin MacLennan.
The rise is attributed to the school’s switch to the Common Application, a nonprofit organization that allows students to apply to multiple colleges and universities using the same platform. The school also credits more fall high school visits from CU recruiters, domestically and internationally, the Boulder Daily Camera reported Wednesday ().
“We developed this fall a much more aggressive recruiting plan and at the same time we also went up on the Common App. It’s both. The combination of the two is what’s driving some of this,” MacLennan said.
CU’s aggressive recruiting plan and Common Application membership are responses to an increasingly competitive environment among universities trying to attract the top students each year, MacLennan said.
“One of the things we realized is in order to attract the best and brightest and the most diverse class, we really need to continue to be aggressive and go after the best students because of the competitive marketplace,” MacLennan said.
Several other Colorado schools use the Common Application, including Colorado State University, the University of Denver, Colorado College, Regis University and Naropa University.
CU recruiters also visited an extra 120 high schools this fall compared to 2012, MacLennan said. CU recruiters also visited 26 countries, up from 19 last fall, which led to a roughly 50 percent increase in the number of international student applications.
CU also saw applications from out-of-state students increase by a third, MacLennan said.
Applications from in-state students are also up by roughly 5 percent, MacLennan said, which is notable because the number of Colorado students graduating this year is declining.
Students have until Jan. 15 to apply to CU, so it’s unknown whether the overall number of applications to CU will also increase. Depending on final numbers in January, CU may consider admitting more students.
Until this year, for every two Colorado residents that CU admits, one enrolls. For out-of-state students, that yield ranges from 20 to 25 percent.
“What we’re trying to gauge is, what is the difference in the yield of the Common App because (students) are applying to other schools?” MacLennan said. “What traditionally happens is you do see a decrease in yield, both in-state and out-of-state, but what percentage is what, we’ll be trying to figure out.”
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Information from: Daily Camera,
