News
By Jayni Foley
|
July 8, 2004
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.
