Number of applications increases by three percent

By Mary Georgevich

The due date for applications for the class of 2013 has passed, and after about a week, Santa Clara had received a record number of applications.

The school had received 10,155 applications as of Jan. 15, which is about a three percent increase over last year at the same time. This year has already surpassed last year's record number of applicants, which The Santa Clara reported in May as 10,123.

Though the number of applications has increased, the school may not be able to be more selective than last year's 57 percent acceptance rate, said Sandra Hayes, dean of undergraduate admission, citing the poor economy.

"In a different economy, as the applicant pool grows, we would be in a position to accept fewer," she said. "But this year is probably not the year to do that."

The school aims to enroll the same number of students -- about 1,200 -- but because families will most likely be more concerned about paying for Santa Clara, Hayes said it is possible that more students will be accepted.

"We may admit a few more," she said. "But we definitely won't admit fewer than last year."

Students will most likely be requesting more financial aid, Hayes said. However, the school has not yet allocated the funds to meet the demand.

"It is clear that the demand for more will be there," she said. "But to my knowledge there has not been an approved budget increase."

Last year, Santa Clara committed around $10 million in financial aid funds to incoming students, said Richard Toomey, assistant vice provost for enrollment management.

He said there was an increase in the number of students that indicated on their admission applications that they would be applying for financial aid.

"It's inevitable that there are going to be more people asking for financial aid," Toomey said. "That's a result of the economy."

The financial aid packages for incoming freshmen will not be ready until early March, so Toomey said he would not know how much money will be offered until then.

"We won't know what the characteristics and need will be," he said.

The budget for financial aid is 25 percent of the university's revenue, which comes from tuition, endowment and anticipated gifts.

Of the more than 10,000 applicants, 2,449 applied to the Leavey School of Business.

Hayes said this number is smaller than last year's, and she attributes that to a better job getting the word out about the new policy of direct enrollment to a student's school of choice.

Applicants choose a school to which they apply and are not allowed to transfer schools until the end of their first year here, Hayes told The Santa Clara last year.

The engineering school has received 1,097 applications thus far, which is a nearly six percent increase from last year's application numbers at this time.

"There's a few more applying to engineering, which is always good," said Hayes.

She said the 6,604 applications for the College of Arts and Sciences is in line with past numbers.

The university has already admitted 1,490 students from the early action applicant pool, out of the 2,531 that applied.

The application deadline for early action, which is non-binding, was Nov. 1, and for regular decision it was Jan. 7.

Tuition will most likely increase at a lower rate next year than it has been increasing in past years, according to an e-mail from former president Paul Locatelli, S.J., that was sent before his departure.

Contact Mary Georgevich at (408) 554-4546 or mgeorgevich@scu.edu.