2008 Woodie Awards
Largest freshman class
Catherine Klene
Issue date: 8/22/08 Section: News
As quickly as new buildings are springing up around campus, more new freshmen are appearing to fill them.
As of July 25, SIUE has admitted the largest freshman class in the university's history, with 5,551 admitted students out of 7,773 applicants. After this summer's Springboard to Success sessions, 2,001 of those admitted freshmen are now registered for fall 2008 classes.
According to the 2008 SIUE Fact Book, this is the highest number of enrolled freshmen in the past 15 years.
Director of Enrollment Management Scott Belobrajdic said these numbers are an 11 percent increase in freshmen admittance over last year and a 17 percent increase in applications.
Belobrajdic said he attributes much of the interest in SIUE to word of mouth.
"We have to assume current students are having a good experience," Belobrajdic said.
Director of Admissions Todd Burrell also credits current SIUE students with the growth rate.
"Our biggest recruiters are our students themselves," Burrell said. "That word of mouth has helped us to grow our application pool."
The large number of applicants is part of a growing trend over the past several years at SIUE and is part of a larger, national trend of growing collegiate class sizes.
Burrell said SIUE has anticipated the larger class size because the 2008 high school graduation rate was so high.
Burrell said while word of mouth may be the primary factor for more students, he also said increased interest in academic programs such as nursing and pharmacy was also important, as well as SIUE's location, housing options and student organizations.
"Students are attracted to the programs that we have … as well as the institution itself," Burrell said.
Belobrajdic said SIUE's reputation has spread not just to the local Metroeast but into northern and central Illinois, with an approximate 18 percent increase from the Chicago area.
As the freshmen applications continued to come in, Emily York, assistant director of Admissions, came up with the idea to change the Springboard to Success freshmen registration program from a one day program to a two day, overnight program.
As of July 25, SIUE has admitted the largest freshman class in the university's history, with 5,551 admitted students out of 7,773 applicants. After this summer's Springboard to Success sessions, 2,001 of those admitted freshmen are now registered for fall 2008 classes.
According to the 2008 SIUE Fact Book, this is the highest number of enrolled freshmen in the past 15 years.
Director of Enrollment Management Scott Belobrajdic said these numbers are an 11 percent increase in freshmen admittance over last year and a 17 percent increase in applications.
Belobrajdic said he attributes much of the interest in SIUE to word of mouth.
"We have to assume current students are having a good experience," Belobrajdic said.
Director of Admissions Todd Burrell also credits current SIUE students with the growth rate.
"Our biggest recruiters are our students themselves," Burrell said. "That word of mouth has helped us to grow our application pool."
The large number of applicants is part of a growing trend over the past several years at SIUE and is part of a larger, national trend of growing collegiate class sizes.
Burrell said SIUE has anticipated the larger class size because the 2008 high school graduation rate was so high.
Burrell said while word of mouth may be the primary factor for more students, he also said increased interest in academic programs such as nursing and pharmacy was also important, as well as SIUE's location, housing options and student organizations.
"Students are attracted to the programs that we have … as well as the institution itself," Burrell said.
Belobrajdic said SIUE's reputation has spread not just to the local Metroeast but into northern and central Illinois, with an approximate 18 percent increase from the Chicago area.
As the freshmen applications continued to come in, Emily York, assistant director of Admissions, came up with the idea to change the Springboard to Success freshmen registration program from a one day program to a two day, overnight program.
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