CU sees a high volume of in-state applicants, decrease in out-of-state freshman
Senior Vice Chancellor Ric Porreca told the Boulder Faculty Assembly that the number of in-state freshman applications received by the university for fall 2007 enrollment is the highest it has been in five years.
“Applications are up from the prior year and that means that you have a larger pool of applicants from which to choose the freshman class,” Porreca said. “That will allow us to insure that the qualifications of the incoming students will be at least as high as they’ve been at any time in our history and possibly even stronger than they’ve been historically.”
But while the number of in-state applicants is up, out-of-state applications are dwindling. The number of non-resident applications received by the university is up over this time last spring, but down by 631 applications since 2003.
“Non-resident students add a dimension to the class in a geographical context – they bring with them their understanding of the world from whatever part of the world they live in,” Porreca said. “Resident students fall in that same category – we have students from all over the state.
Porreca said that resident students bring diverse views from across the state. These views can then help to contribute to the educational experience for other students.
Boulder resident and Fairview High School senior Kate Compton, 18, will attend CU in the fall – but that doesn’t mean it was her first choice school.
“It definitely wasn’t my first choice,” Compton, who is on student council at her high school, said. “I think if you’re going to stay in-state CU is the top choice, but I think most kids are typically trying to go somewhere else.”
Compton also said the traits of a “strong class” may not be represented by in-state students who attend CU, specifically in students like her who didn’t have the option of choosing an out-of-state school.
“I know a lot of kids from my school who chose CU because of automatic admission. If you have a 3.8 (GPA) and a certain SAT score you are automatically allowed in, so it was really easy for all of us to hand in our transcripts instead of having to write a long essay,” Compton said. “In some ways you could say we aren’t a strong class because we all kind of took the easy road.”
But Compton’s “easy road” may mean more money for the university. More freshman applicants could mean more money towards tuition-related fees.
CU is also asking the state for authority to collect about 7 percent more than last year in tuition revenue.
That amount includes both resident and non-resident tuition increases, along with any additional fund-generating change to tuition structure.
Contact Campus Press staff writer Jimmy Himes at jimmy.himes@thecampuspress.com.
