College Prepares for Largest Freshmen Class in Recent Memory

The College of Engineering is preparing for its largest freshmen class in recent history. The number of students who have confirmed their admission for this fall has increased 17%* compared to fall 2006. The College expects to welcome over 650 freshmen this fall, a 14% increase from the fall 2006 freshman class.

While confirmed admissions to the University of Cincinnati this year are up approximately 13%, the College numbers are outpacing even that increase. College Director of Admissions Julie Burdick notes that quality has not suffered despite the larger numbers. "On the contrary," says Burdick. "Average test scores as well as the high school grade point average of our incoming freshmen in 2007 continue to increase. The College typically leads the University with these comparisons."

College Director of Admissions Julie Burdick and Program Director Kathy Johnson discuss recruiting materials.

Burdick, whose Admissions Office consists of Program Coordinators Kathy Johnson and Charles Schwartz, does not believe there is any single reason for the increase and instead attributes the projected large increase in the freshmen engineering class to a number of factors. According to Burdick, the College has invested time and effort in a number of recruiting type activities to draw students to consider engineering at UC where co-op was invented in 1906. "I think we are beginning to see some excellent enrollment planning efforts implemented in the College in recent years come to fruition," says Burdick.

Burdick says that a major reason for the College's enrollment growth is the strategic work of growing the "pipeline" which includes students from middle school through high school who are interested in engineering. The strategic part of the puzzle is to create events that target various prospective student groups and then customize their experience with the College. Some examples of events include a Women in Engineering open house, a math competition for middle school students called MathCounts, Laboratory Tours for high school math and science classes (seeking a diverse population), and special full-day visits for out of state students.

"What makes this successful is the focus on the prospective student. We now have an extensive admissions data base, so we are able to target specific groups with letters, emails, and invitations to campus. We follow up with prospective student inquiries and let the students know that they are valued. Once they visit and see how beautiful the 'new' UC campus is, how impressive the College's classrooms and laboratories are, and meet our faculty, it is usually a 'done deal.'" says Burdick.

"Several years ago we focused on improving the pipeline of women and students of color in the system, and now that investment is paying dividends. Three years ago, the percentage of prospective women and E³ students was 15% and 12% respectively. Currently, our fall 2008 prospective student data base includes 29% women and 20% E³ students. The improvement continues to show in our fall 2009 data base which includes 42% women and 20% E³ students," comments Burdick.

The College made changes in its strategy of awarding scholarships to incoming students. Burdick says, "We continue to recognize academic excellence in awarding scholarships to all students and we are now trying to be more competitive in identifying financial need among our applicants, especially our underrepresented students." Also, in autumn 2006 the College launched the pilot National Engineering Scholarship Program (NESP) for qualifying U.S., non-Ohio residents, providing more than $9,000 in combined UC scholarship awards. The number of confirmed admissions among out-of-state students has increased from 12 in 2006 to a projected 34 this year.

The College has also implemented other programs in recent years to provide students with the best engineering preparation for the dollar. The College's five-year, combined BS/MS degree program recently expanded to offer BS/MBA combinations. In addition, a new research co-op program, alternating classroom study with real, professional lab work, is now available with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

"We offer students interested in studying engineering many choices in their education and a rich learning environment, whether in the classroom, the laboratory, or on the job." says Burdick.

Most recently, the UC Board of Trustees approved the College's proposal to create a department of engineering education to improve the experiences of first-year and second-year students and help many students who live off-campus deal with the unique challenges they face. The College will construct a state-of-the-art learning center for the department of engineering education on the 8th floor of Rhodes Hall.

When pressed Burdick concedes that there has been no shortage of old-fashioned hard work applied to the College's recruiting efforts in the last several years. "The entire College is involved and committed to attracting and enrolling great engineers of the future, seeking both quality and diversity in our undergraduate students. Our faculty and our Engineering Ambassadors participate in the College's recruiting events. They are the best salespeople!"

• Data provided by University of Cincinnati UniverSIS tracking system on July 2, 2007.