Undergrad applications up significantly

Undergraduate applications to UB are 10.3 percent higher than at this time last year, and university officials are attributing the increase partly to greater awareness of UB’s status as one of the nation’s top public universities.

As of Jan. 21, this represents the highest number of applications to the university in the past five years.

The Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences is receiving applications for its undergraduate programs at a rate 14.4 percent higher than one year ago.

Applications to the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, ranked 37th among public universities by U.S. News and World Report, are up 11.7 percent. Applications to the School of Management, ranked as one of the nation’s top business schools by Forbes, have increased by 10.9 percent.

Based on SAT profiles, the class of students for 2016 continues be significantly stronger academically than in 2015, and the most diverse pool of applicants in the past five years.

“We have recruited significantly more than in previous years and become much more strategic and direct in delivering a very clear message to prospective students and their families,” says Jose Aviles, associate vice provost and director of admissions. “UB is the largest and most comprehensive university in New York State, known for interdisciplinary research and scholarship. We stand apart as a member of the Association of American Universities, an organization that consists of only 2 percent of all colleges and universities across the country.

“This has resonated in a way that has produced one of the largest and strongest applicant pools at UB in recent history.”

UB’s AAU membership signifies that it is one of the nation’s leading research universities, a place where faculty and students work together on developing solutions to some of society’s most pressing challenges.

“In 2011, institutions in the AAU received nearly 60 percent of all federally funded research provided to colleges and universities,” Aviles says. “As an AAU institution, we attract some of the most acclaimed scholars from around the globe to join our faculty and teach our students, a message that resonates well with prospective students.

“As undergraduates — from the sciences, to the social sciences, to the arts and humanities — students learn that they are uniquely positioned to take advantage of the challenging research and creative opportunities at UB that match their academic interests and career goals.”

Additionally, the diversity of current applicants to UB has increased by 13.4 percent over the same period in 2015. Applicants representing minority populations comprise 51 percent of all students applying to the university, compared to 49 percent in 2015. The most significant gains include:

• Hispanic, up 21 percent.
• African-American, up 13.1 percent.
• Asian, up 7.8 percent.

Aviles says UB’s four-year graduation rate increased from 39 percent in 2007 to 55 percent in 2015, exceeding the national average of 36 percent and decreasing the cost in time and money needed to earn an undergraduate degree at UB.

Students also are attracted to Finish in 4, a model UB program that provides students with enhanced support throughout their entire undergraduate career and which has gained national attention.

UB continues to ingrain the idea of graduating in four years by introducing it at orientation and reinforcing it throughout the student’s career — such as through class Facebook pages and class-year souvenirs — to build a student’s identification with and excitement about their graduation year.

Enrollment in Finish in 4 has grown from approximately half of the freshman class in 2012 to 80 percent for fall 2015.