Class of 2018 breaks records

By: Byron Hoskinson – News Editor

This year’s incoming class, graduating in 2018, will set university records in terms of size, diversity and standardized testing scores.

The class of 2,205 students was selected from among 16,918 applications, breaking records for both number of applicants and number of students who chose to attend.

Last year the university had 15,797 applicants and 1,765 new first-year students. This freshman class is almost 25 percent larger than last year’s, according to statistics published by the office of the registrar.

Approximately 59 percent of applicants were accepted, making this year’s class the third most selective in UD history after the freshmen of 2013 and 2012, respectively.

The incoming class also boasts considerable diversity concerning students’ hometowns. More out-of-state than in-state students moved in over the weekend, continuing a larger trend that shows UD transitioning from a local to a regional to a national university.

More than half of the incoming class – about 1,200 students – came from out of state, with 200 traveling overseas to start their university experience. The number of incoming African-American and Hispanic students is also expected to be significantly higher than previous years.

Sundar Kumarasamy, vice president of enrollment management and marketing, said the new class demonstrates the appeal a UD education presents to students from all over the world, in a udayton.edu May 2014 news release.

“We are exceptionally pleased with the quality and the size of the incoming class,” Kumarasamy said. He called the records in application and admission “a resounding endorsement of the academic quality and value of a Catholic, Marianist education.”

Kumarasamy suggests the uptick in enrollment can be explained by several factors, including expanded recruitment efforts, a new tuition plan and the increased visibility that came from the men’s basketball team’s Elite 8 run.

The class of 2017 will be the first to participate in the new tuition plan, which guarantees that scholarships and grants will increase proportionally in order to offset tuition increases. The university also offers incoming students $1,000 annually for textbooks, a procedure that was first implemented two years ago.

Kumarasamy also said the university is guaranteeing the incoming class on-campus housing for four years.

“We want our students to graduate in four years, experience our distinctive highly residential campus and study abroad because all graduates need to be exposed to global issues and cultures,” Kumarasamy said. “It’s part of our Catholic, Marianist mission to prepare students to succeed in diverse and global environments.”