Contact CU Independent News Staff Writer Graham Crawford at graham.crawford@colorado.edu
The University of Colorado just set a school record for the number of freshman applications. 2016 brought a 10 percent increase from the application pool in 2015, with over 30,000 applicants.
Freshman applications are divided into three different demographics: Colorado residents, non-state-residents and international students. Each of these categories has shown a significant increase in the number of incoming applications, though the majority of growth is coming from both non-residents (at a 12 percent increase) and international students (at a 15 percent increase).
Although in-state students showed the smallest increase in applications, CU Director of Admissions Kevin MacLennan said that Colorado residents will be the majority of the incoming class.
“We really focus, as a state institution, on meeting the needs of Colorado students and families,” MacLennan said.
California, Illinois and Texas funneled in the most out-of-state applicants, MacLennan said.
The future class of 2020 may have the most applicants, but the class size will be similar to that of the current class of 2019, MacLennan added.
This application growth did not manifest without effort from the administration here in Boulder. CU holds numerous nationwide recruiting programs. Likewise, it has continued to expand its international presence with outreach programs across the globe.
The university has also utilized its large alumni presence; CU has multiple groups of alumni volunteers that operate on the national and global scales.
“We coordinate with alumni to represent the university where [we] can’t,” MacLennan said.
He referred to them as “[our] greatest asset, because they tell the story of CU and are a successful product of the university.”
The school also benefited from free press last October, when CU hosted to the Republican presidential primary debate on campus.
“Anytime CU gets nationwide events, its good for our brand,” MacLennan said.
Each increase of student applications offers new opportunities for CU and its campus. According to MacLennan, this increase shows the administration’s effort to reach its two goals of achieving a higher academic standard and diversifying the campus life.
