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Carrying bags from their
first visit to the College Book Store, parents
and students toured the Oswego campus during the
April 2 open house. |
Applications to SUNY Oswego for next fall have been
consistently ahead of last year — up 15 percent
according to the most recent report from the State University
system’s processing center.
The increase in applications this year comes after “a
very good year last year,” said Joseph Grant Jr.,
vice president for student affairs and enrollment. For
fall 2006, freshman applications were up about 10 percent,
resulting in about six applicants for every available
opening in the freshman class.
“Now it looks like we may be up that amount again,”
Grant said. “We may be pushing seven applications
for every opening, which would be good. We’re
already denying people that look like people we’ve
accepted in the past.”
As entry becomes more competitive, the academic profile
(standardized test scores and grade averages) of new
incoming classes rises. As the trend toward higher academic
achievement continues, “people who may not have
thought about attending Oswego are beginning to think
about us,” Grant said. “It’s clear
that interest on the part of the public is up.”
He noted that the $160 million in major renovations
of campus buildings as well as new academic programs
like the recently approved cinema studies and proposals
for engineering make the college exciting to prospective
students, and Oswego’s generous merit scholarships
help attract the best-prepared students.
Grant said that the only significant change in campus
recruiting tactics this year has been an online campaign
through Google, to help increase awareness of Oswego’s
strengths among students, their parents and high school
counselors.
Students lined the sidewalk
in front of Tyler Hall during a campus open house
tour April 2. |
The online campaign began in December and has already
generated more than 25,500 ‘hits,’ he said.
Two programs alone — earth sciences and teaching
English as a second language — generated more
than a couple thousand each.
“We have been ahead on applications right from
the get-go this year, sometimes as much as 35 to 40
percent,” Grant said. More rapid than usual processing
of the applications by SUNY accounted for the very high
apparent increases at times, he said, but Oswego still
runs ahead of its sister campuses. “Compared to
other SUNYs, we’re substantially ahead of the
colleges all the way through,” he said.
—Julie Harrison Blissert |
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To April 2007 E-Newsletter |
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