Applications to 'U' increase 10 percent

As the fall enrollment cycle comes to an end, University officials say that application totals are up by nearly 10 percent from last year.

Nearly 21,000 individuals have applied to the University to be members of the incoming first-year class.

"I think it may well be that people are feeling encouraged to go to the University," Provost Nancy Cantor said.

But the University is not the only institution of higher education to note an increase in application figures.

The University of California at Los Angeles reported the largest pool of applicants in its history. The total was 32,600 - the highest of any university in the country.

Cantor also said the number of applicants who have accepted the University's offer of admittance at this point in the cycle has increased.

"Our applications are up," Cantor said. "It's clearly been a banner year in that regard."

The University has made 11,935 admissions offers to applicants, leaving 941 applications in progress. Many people in that second pool are applicants who have been postponed or are still being evaluated by different schools within the University.

For instance, if an applicant still has to perform an audition for consideration to the School of Music, his or her application would be included in this list.

Out of the increased number of applicants, 7,259 have already been notified that they have been rejected. A small subset of this group has been offered spots on the extended waitlist.

University officials speculate that a number of factors, including the Michigan football team's Rose Bowl victory and national championship, may have contributed to the increase in applications.

But Cantor said the University's approach to the diversity debate, especially in lieu of the two lawsuits filed against the University challenging its use of race in the admission process, may have attracted applicants.

"People in the community have been attracted by our stance on diversity," Cantor said.

The University's emphasis in the past several years on enhancing undergraduate education, including the expansion of more intimate class settings, may also be luring students to the University.

"That's the kind of thing high school counselors hear about and starts getting back to neighborhoods and schools," Cantor said.

A fewer number of applicants will be admitted to the University by the cycle's completion, which will go even until students are pulled off the University's extended waitlist several months from now. The University's targeted its incoming class at about 5,200 - 350 fewer students than the projected number for this year's class of first-year students.

May 1 is the enrollment deadline for applicants who have already received an offer from the University to attend school on campus.

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