St. Lawrence University has received a record number of applications for the fall of 2022, the school announced this month, citing a 14.2 percent increase since the previous fall. The University received applications from 47 states and 124 countries, demonstrating an increase in scope, as well as quantity.
“This record number of applications is a testament to the dedication and ingenuity of our faculty and staff whose efforts have enhanced the St. Lawrence experience, despite the challenges of the pandemic,” said Florence Hines, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid.
St. Lawrence University has been working to make the school more desirable and accessible for potential students. The addition of new majors such as a post-bac pre med program, finance, data science, and digital media and film will attract students who may have previously been uninterested due to the lack of more pre-professional majors.
The release of the new St. Lawrence website late last year, as well as new initiatives oriented towards lowering tuition intend to continue the uptrend in applications in coming years. The admissions team seeks to lower barriers to application–St. Lawrence has been test optional for nearly 15 years, putting it far ahead of other small liberal arts schools who are just now becoming test optional for its applicants. In August of last year, St. Lawrence dropped its 60 dollar application fee, once again, making the application process more attainable for many.
The rise in applications is not unique to SLU as colleges across the country report increasing applications. Recent estimates from the Common App based on the 2021 application data report a 13 percent increase in the number of applicants, and a 22 percent increase in the number of applications. This correlates with factors such as the movement to test-optional and the decreased rate in which college tuition is now rising.
The Common App also reported that for the 2021 term, approximately 27 percent of college applicants are first generation college students; St. Lawrence reports nearly 20 percent of their enrolled students to be first generation college attendees. The University hopes to continue broadening its applicant pool to attempt to achieve goals of diversity and inclusion in its future classes. The class of 2025 is composed of 13 percent students of color, and 10 percent international students.
In comparison to other north-east liberal arts schools, St. Lawrence lags behind–Middlebury College in Middlebury, VT reports 35 percent students of color and 13 percent international students. The class of 2025 had over 11,000 applicants, while letting in 1,875. Middlebury promises to meet 100 percent of demonstrated financial aid, and spent 17.5 million dollars on need-based aid in 2021. St. Lawrence University does not promise the same, but reported 76 million dollars spent on gift aid in the 2020-2021 school year. The two colleges differ significantly in resources, Middlebury’s endowment quintuples that of SLUs, sitting at 1.5 billion dollars to St. Lawrences 315 million dollars.
St. Lawrence University’s new policies and efforts will hopefully be seen both for students on campus, as well as for incoming classes. The University Diversity Committee launched its five-year Strategic Action Plan for Diversity and Inclusion in the Spring of 2021, which extends to six different branches of St. Lawrence University life. The admissions branch released the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Action Plan, which explains the policies the admissions team will implement to accomplish university goals. St. Lawrence University hopes to apply these new strategies to the class of 2026, which will be announced this coming May.