Provost: UF prepares for dramatic increase in freshman admissions

August 23, 2005

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida is preparing for a larger-than-expected freshman class, a trend that other academic institutions around the country appear to be experiencing as well, according to the university’s new provost.

Although registration is not complete and classes don’t start until Wednesday, university officials estimate freshman class size will be about 7,200 students – give or take 100 – instead of the 6,700 to 6,800 students initially expected, said UF provost Janie Fouke.

“When the yield goes up, it’s wonderful because it gives you a better, stronger class, assuming that you can accommodate it, and we’re certainly going to do everything we can to do so,” she said.

Fouke, who began work Aug. 15, said she does not know why UF’s yield rate – the percentage of students who accept offers of admission – jumped from 76 percent to 79 percent over last year. Historically, when yields suddenly go up, there can be several reasons, she said.

“If the economy is poor and there are no jobs, people might decide to go to college instead,” she said. “That doesn’t seem to be a driver right now. Some people have speculated that the war might be a driver. People are choosing to go to college when they might otherwise have chosen to go into the service.”

UF is not alone in having to find ways to accommodate a larger freshmen class, Fouke said. “This is a national phenomenon,” she said. “When the admissions directors met this last summer, many of them were talking about having larger yields than they had expected.”

Typically, UF admits slightly more than half the number of students who apply, Fouke said. This year it accepted 12,091 of the 21,792 students who submitted applications, but university officials won’t know exactly how many will actually show up until classes begin, she said.

“We’re going to work to make this freshman class have the same degree of intimacy
and personal contact that previous classes have had, but in general, institutions with large numbers of students are more complex, and that complexity is a terrifically wonderful resource for the students,” she said. “You can offer a larger array of programs, you frequently have more diverse sets of faculty and course offerings, and students benefit from that.”

Freshmen students admitted this fall have slightly stronger academic credentials than those accepted for the 2004-05 academic year. Although the average grade point average of 4.0 is the same, the average SAT score increased from 1280 to 1300, she said.

Typically, about 10 percent of UF applicants are black and about 15 percent are Hispanic, she said.