2011-12 enrollment numbers

[okinawatyphoon]

An admission counselor friend of mine posted a few weeks ago on Facebook that the Spring class (this semester) is one of (if not THE) largest in history.

[valpopal]

An admission counselor friend of mine posted a few weeks ago on Facebook that the Spring class (this semester) is one of (if not THE) largest in history.

Information I have received indicates Valpo can expect a spike in undergraduate and graduate admissions for the fall semester.

[valpotx]

I sure hope so!  What was the ideal year that we should be up to 6k students?

[agibson]

Seeing some of the data as it's come in, I think it's too soon for me to say.  The numbers have been... moderately encouraging?  But some policy changes make them perhaps a little difficult to interpret.  I don't have enough experience with the calendar to know when the picture will be relatively clear.

[FWalum]

This whole push to go to 6K students just baffles me.  Now if we were adding graduate and doctoral programs to get to that size it might be another story (see Wake Forest).  But having an undergraduate enrollment of under 3000 and a total enrollment of around 4000 adding an additional 50% to the size of the school would change our demographics considerably.  Imagine class sizes increasing by 50% when you are known for your faculty to student ratio.  What would have to happen to admission standards in order to accept 50% more students.  Grow the endowment rather than add 50% to the student population if you are worried about future viability.  Despite their HUGE increase in applications (as mentioned in other threads on this forum) since the 2 NCAA BB runs I haven't seen anything from Butler saying that they want to go from a little over 4K to 6K.

[agibson]

Imagine class sizes increasing by 50% when you are known for your faculty to student ratio.  What would have to happen to admission standards in order to accept 50% more students. 

The idea is that the size of the faculty increases along with the student body.  Probably trailing student trends, slightly.

The claim is that we can do this while also _raising_, or at least holding steady, the quality of our entering classes, our admission standards, etc. 

[mj]

The claim is that we can do this while also _raising_, or at least holding steady, the quality of our entering classes, our admission standards, etc.

Unfortunately I can't believe that claim. What's causing more talented students to suddenly want to go to Valpo? The union? The new ad campaign? The new Crusader? There have been some great changes to the University but are they enough to suddenly attract large numbers of high quality students?

Valpo already had a pretty high acceptance rate. I assume now they'll just admit anyone who applies. It's nothing new to have colleges fudge statistics (see law school employment rates), so it wouldn't surprise me if Valpo massaged the numbers to make it appear better than it really is.

I graduated from Valpo 4 years ago and my brother graduated last year. We both love dear old Valpo, but at the same time we recognized that for all the hype Valpo gets for being a great academic school, Valpo also admits some no-so-smart students. In fact, I remember Heckler saying that Valpo should be ready to admit students who weren't ready for college but could then take remedial classes their first year. 

[okinawatyphoon]

It is possible to increase students quickly and increase standards at the same time. Is it easy? Of course not, but it is possible with a great team, dedication from the admissions staff and administration, and commitment of resources. We've also had the discussion of acceptance rates before. On paper, Valpo has a higher acceptance rate than many schools ranked lower than it. As it turns out, many low-quality students (academically) choose not to apply to Valpo at all, leaving the admissions office with mostly quality students to choose from. When you have droves of students with poor grades and test scores applying to a school, then sure, its acceptance rate is bound to be a bit lower.

[vu72]

This whole push to go to 6K students just baffles me.  Now if we were adding graduate and doctoral programs to get to that size it might be another story (see Wake Forest).  But having an undergraduate enrollment of under 3000 and a total enrollment of around 4000 adding an additional 50% to the size of the school would change our demographics considerably.  Imagine class sizes increasing by 50% when you are known for your faculty to student ratio.  What would have to happen to admission standards in order to accept 50% more students.  Grow the endowment rather than add 50% to the student population if you are worried about future viability.  Despite their HUGE increase in applications (as mentioned in other threads on this forum) since the 2 NCAA BB runs I haven't seen anything from Butler saying that they want to go from a little over 4K to 6K.

First, let's take a look at the goal:  right now we have 3000 undergrads and 1000 in grad/law school.  The goal is to go to 4000 undergrad and 2000 grad/law students.  Heckler has said that if we actually filled up every bed we would have an entire dorm empty--with our current enrollment.  That means we have excess capacity--housing wise.  I'm also told that many majors are not near capacity which means we can selectively add students without dropping student/faculty ratios.  Finally, there have been several major improvements that add to capacity capabilities.  First, there is the union, necessary to feed more people.  Next there is the new Arts and Science's building, capable to hold more classes.  Third there is the 13 million dollar engineering addition, coupled with the solar furnace.  Those two changes will make Valpo's engineering programs some of the finest in the country--which they were prior to these changes.

When we were in school there were no graduate programs other than the law school.  Now there are master's programs in business, engineering, nursing and several art's and science's areas.  There is even a doctoral program in nursing.  These programs are growing at a good clip while gaining national recognition for them in the process.

[agibson]

Valpo already had a pretty high acceptance rate. I assume now they'll just admit anyone who applies. It's nothing new to have colleges fudge statistics (see law school employment rates), so it wouldn't surprise me if Valpo massaged the numbers to make it appear better than it really is.

So far, during their campaign to boost enrollment, average GPA and test scores have risen.  I don't have good numbers at my finger tips for acceptance rates, but I don't think they've gone up.  I see some signs that they've been _down_ last year and this year - but my numbers aren't the best.  Of course, that (the acceptance rate)  mostly means you're attracting more applications.  It doesn't, by itself, say whether they're weaker or stronger.

And, of course, we haven't yet seen a jump in enrollment.

[vuweathernerd]

due to the economy, it's not a terrible surprise that the jump hasn't come yet. it's hard to shell out the serious coin that it costs to go to a more expensive school. my brother had his sights set on going to auburn in the fall, but lack of scholarship money from the school and lack of additional help through fafsa led to him changing his mind in favor of a public school costing half the price.

[crusadermoe]

OK......so are they are any "apples to apples" comparisons yet between  2011-2012 and next Fall (2012-2013) ?
Some of you seem to have ties to the admissions office, so how does next Fall compare to last in number of applications and number of deposits?     
Obviously, those don't predict with high accuracy because more and more students seem to put down deposits at multiple schools to hedge their bets.    Who wouldn't put a couple hundred into deposits when you are making a $50,000 to $100,000+ investment (depending on financial aid level).    But the benchmark  #s above might provide a hint. 

[vu72]

I'm doing a college fair for Valpo next week and just received the stats for Valpo students for the 2011-12 class (last year's)

6500 applications/4400 accepted, 700 enrolled

46/54 male to female

32% Lutheran 25% Catholic

36% from Indiana

enrolled from most states and 59 foreign countries/ 3% international

SAT midrange  1470-1800

ACT     "      23-29

Average High School  GPA  3.64/4.00

34% in top 10% of class

Total Cost (tuition, room, board etc) $39,796

25% Greeks

I'm pretty sure these numbers have improved with this incoming class.

[sliman]

A few things strike me in looking at this profile information and comparing it to what I remember from a few years ago and what I remember from data published in US News:  the percentage of males has declined (49-51 percent not long ago), the number of Lutherans has declined (from 39 percent), the number from Indiana may be up slightly (from 33-34 percent).  The quality of the class is about what I remember although the percentage from the top 10 percent of their hs classes seems smaller.  Test scores, Greek membership, etc. seems about the same.

[valpopal]

I'm doing a college fair for Valpo next week and just received the stats for Valpo students for the 2011-12 class (last year's)

6500 applications/4400 accepted, 700 enrolled

46/54 male to female

32% Lutheran 25% Catholic

36% from Indiana

enrolled from most states and 59 foreign countries/ 3% international

SAT midrange  1470-1800

ACT     "      23-29

Average High School  GPA  3.64/4.00

34% in top 10% of class

Total Cost (tuition, room, board etc) $39,796

25% Greeks

I'm pretty sure these numbers have improved with this incoming class.

Your information seems just a bit incomplete. The 700 enrollment number does not include about 170 incoming transfer students last year, for a total of 870.

This year's total enrollment is close to 1,020 -- more than 800 first-year students and more than 200 transfers. I believe the application figure for this year was closer to 7,200 (4,700 accepted). The academic scores for this year's class are a bit higher than last year, and the percentage of males to females has been reversed this year (53% male -- 47% female). In addition, the incoming minority and international student population increased by 33% this year. These figures are for undergraduates and do not include a large growth of the graduate program. All in all, the VU admissions people did an excellent job this year.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

http://posttrib.suntimes.com/15293502-537/nwi-campus-enrollment-on-the-rise.html

This has some of the stats on the newest class (and more) that valpopal just beat me to.  If it hadn't taken so long to find it again...

[valpotx]

Hopefully they reverse that trend in male/female ratio lol.  I remember that in considering baseball programs, that did factor into my decision 

[valpo04]

Hopefully they reverse that trend in male/female ratio lol.  I remember that in considering baseball programs, that did factor into my decision 

I don't know... as a college bound male, having more females than males wouldn't be a terrible thing!   

[vu72]

Hopefully they reverse that trend in male/female ratio lol.  I remember that in considering baseball programs, that did factor into my decision 

I don't know... as a college bound male, having more females than males wouldn't be a terrible thing!   

I'm pretty sure he was talking about the most recent numbers and this quote from the Post-Trib article:

Another first at VU is the number of males in its freshman class outnumber women. Joseph said the 53 percent male freshman class represents a record. "It's the first time we've ever had more men than women."   

[VULB#62]

Changes the supply/demand parameters in the dating scene   

[valpotx]

Yes, I was speaking about the most recent percentages.  I wouldn't have attended VU if it was 53% male