This fall's entering first-year class will have more minority students and be better qualified academically than last year's, according to preliminary figures released by University officials last Thursday.
Of the 3,165 students in the class of 2008 who have accepted offers of admission as of late June, 10 percent are black, 14 percent are Asian and Asian-American and 5 percent are Hispanic --- all 1 or 2 percentage point increases from last year.
Valerie Gregory, director of the Minority Outreach Office and assistant dean of admission, said she was not surprised by the increase in minority acceptances, and said she hopes to see the numbers rise even more.
Standardized test scores are also higher than last year, with combined SAT scores of the middle 50 percent in a range of between 1,250 and 1,430 points, an increase of 10 points on each end since last year.
The increase in minority acceptances at the University is contrary to results seen at peer institutions such as the University of Michigan and University of California at Berkeley, both of which experienced decreases in minority acceptances.
University officials attributed the greater diversity this year to increased numbers of minority and total applications, as well as strong efforts by the Minority Outreach Office which was aided by more funding.
A total of 15,245 students applied for admission to the class of 2008, and 5,763 were offered admission.
"This year there was more money available to do more traveling and reach out a little more," Gregory said. "We made more high school visits and the money allowed us to visit New York, Philadelphia and some other areas that typically have high minority populations."
Gregory said she was not surprised by the increase in minority acceptances, and said she hopes to see the numbers rise even more.
The new "Access UVa" financial aid program, designed to keep tuition affordable for all students who qualify for admission, regardless of economic circumstance, is another program that can help attract more minority students, Gregory said.
The "Access UVa program will allow us to get more low-income students --- regardless of race -- to apply, and help those students with this process," she said.
Assistant Dean of Students Daisy Rodriguez, who works with Asian/Asian Pacific American Student Services, said there are a number of programs designed to inform prospective students and promote minority students to be involved in leadership roles at the University.
"The Asian Student Union was an active part of helping to inform prospective students about the different opportunities for Asian and Asian Pacific students," Rodriguez said. "I'm really excited that there has been an increase [in minority acceptances]. All of our programs have been pretty effective and successful in the last few years."
Women comprise 54 percent of the class for the second year in a row, and 66 percent of entering first-year students are from Virginia.
The top six sources of international students are South Korea, China, Turkey, India, Hong Kong and Canada.
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