2015-2016 Enrollment Management Annual Report
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OFFICE OF ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT 2015–2016 ANNUAL REPORT Online Version Contents A Message from the Vice Provost ..................................................................... 2 Undergraduate Enrollment Sets New Record .................................................. 3 New First-Year Students: Academic Profile ..................................................... 7 Online Catalog - Re-engineering Curricula Management .............................. 11 Financial Aid - Putting The R In Roi ............................................................... 13 Financial Aid Peer Counselors ........................................................................ 15 Space Redesign Improves Bursar Services ..................................................... 17 Informed Decisions Via Data Dashboards ..................................................... 20 Recruitment Communications Steps Up With Slate ...................................... 21 Purdue Surprises Newly Admitted Students .................................................. 22 1 WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DECADE MAKES. When Purdue University called 10 years ago, the place I had first visited on Little Sib’s Weekend more than 50 years ago became my new home. Now, as I complete my final academic year as a Boilermaker, I fondly reflect on my time at Purdue – the warm friendships I enjoy and the collegial partnerships that make the work I love so rewarding. What a difference a decade makes. A legacy student information system. Paper applicant files. An entire room devoted to Credit Evaluation’s paper catalogs from colleges around the country. Long lines for services students could access only in person. In 2006, that was life as usual. Through strategic planning, new technology and hard work, we have developed an integrated system of tools and resources that decrease the amount of time students need to conduct business with Purdue so that they can focus on getting the most they can out of their Purdue education. The long lines of a decade ago have been eliminated by online, self-help tools. In turn, these tools have built efficiencies for staff so that we can continuously improve services for students and campus. Throughout this report, you’ll see examples from the latest year – the work of Enrollment Management units and partners. And I need to emphasize partners. Neither the progress of this last year nor that of the last decade could have been achieved with Enrollment Management alone. Although this is the last Enrollment Management Annual Report under my leadership, I’m not done yet. We have ambitious plans for the remainder of my final academic year at Purdue. I also know the staff and leadership that have accomplished so much with me in the last 10 years are well prepared to support my successor with the “one brick higher” ingenuity and work ethic that make me so proud to be a Boilermaker. Thank you all for helping make this a truly rewarding capstone to my career in higher education. 2 UNDERGRADUATE ENROLLMENT SETS NEW RECORD. Purdue University’s West Lafayette campus set a new record for total enrollment in Fall 2016, with 40,451 total students, including 30,043 undergraduates. Helping boost these numbers is the largest freshman class since 2009, a total of 7,243. We arrived at 30,000+ total undergraduates one year ahead of schedule, but it is a testament to the appeal of a Purdue education, both in Indiana and beyond. As you scroll down this page, you’ll see the specifics, but here are a few highlights: • Once again, the freshman class broke records for academic preparation. • Diversity among the first-year class reached an all-time high; diversity among all undergraduates increased as well. • By design, the pace of increase in international student enrollment has slowed while our international student population continues to diversify geographically. • Enrollment among Indiana residents in the first-year class is at its highest level since 2009. • The first-year class included more women than in the past 10 years. 3 UNDERGRADUATE ENROLLMENT BY COLLEGE/SCHOOL The proportion of Purdue students by college remained about the same as last year, but the slight shifts we experienced reflect Purdue students’ interest in STEM disciplines. Enrollment in six Purdue colleges increased in Fall 2016. The greatest percentage increase was in the Purdue Polytechnic Institute, a jump of 6.5%. The College of Engineering rose 6.1% while the colleges of Education and Pharmacy increased 5.6% and 5.5%, respectively. Enrollment in the College of Agriculture grew by 2.4%, and for the College of Science, there was a 1.1% increase. 4 TOTAL UNDERGRADUATE ENROLLMENT With students from down the street, across the country and around the world, Purdue offers students a wealth of geographic diversity among their peers. In 2016, the number of undergraduate Indiana residents increased slightly, up to 16,016 from 15,971 the previous year. Enrollment from three states, Washington, Tennessee and Kentucky, topped 100 for the first time – for Washington, that’s a 31.4% increase over 2015. Enrollment from Michigan and California also increased significantly – 15.4% and 15.3%, respectively. Strategic recruitment by International Students and Scholars staff helped Purdue increase the geographic diversity of the international undergraduate population. Overall, this population decreased slightly in 2016 – about 2% – but the geographic diversity changed measurably. For example, as a percentage of all international undergrads, Chinese students decreased 12.0% while enrollment of students from South American/Caribbean countries, Europe and India increased 40.3%, 28.1% and 7.6%, respectively. 5 RETENTION AND GRADUATION For the first time in Purdue’s history, the first-year retention of African-American students exceeded the overall first-year retention rate. Not only is this a significant milestone for Purdue, it is not common among predominantly white institutions. New academic standards for academic probation and dismissal contributed to a 1% drop in the overall first-year retention rate; additional research is underway to better understand the reasons other students left voluntarily. The second-year retention rate continued to climb, now at 88%. Since 2005, the second-year retention rate has increased 12 percentage points, which is significant because, historically, about 90% of students who remain at Purdue for their third year will graduate from the University. All graduation rates reached historic highs this year and the average time to a Purdue degree is now 4.15 years. At 55.9%, the current four-year graduation rate is 16.7 percentage points higher than it was just eight years ago. The six-year graduation rate is 77%, up from 68.7% in 2005. 6 NEW FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS: ACADEMIC PROFILE The academic preparation of new college students has a direct impact on an institution’s retention and graduation rates, and once again, Purdue’s first-year class represents historic high points in some academic categories. This is particularly impressive given the size of the class. Purdue received 48,776 applications for Fall 2016 enrollment, a 7.5% increase from the prior year. A higher-than- expected yield rate produced a class of 7,243 first-year students, including 174 who were admitted provisionally with the requirement that they complete the five-week Summer Start immersion program in order to continue in the fall. Even with the large class and provisional Summer Start admits, the average ACT composite and high school GPA continued to climb. However, the class size and academic profile of Summer Start students likely contributed to a slight decrease in SAT scores. 7 INDIANA STUDENTS After earlier years of decline, the volume of applications from Indiana residents increased, as did their academic preparation. More first-year Indiana residents entered Purdue with some advanced credit, including 12.3% more with AP or CLEP credit and 17.1% more with other college credit. 8 DIVERSITY Minority students were 19.1% of the freshman class – a historic high for both the number (1386) and percentage. There was a particularly sharp increase in the number of “two or more races” students, an increase of 23.3% over 2015. Overall, enrollment of underrepresented minority students in the first- year class increased by 16.9% over the previous year. 9 SUMMER START In 2016, Purdue welcomed its first Summer Start cohort, students who were denied admission for fall but offered the opportunity to begin their Purdue experience during a five-week immersion program that ends the Friday before Boiler Gold Rush. Of the 174 Summer Start students, 172 successfully completed the program and continued in the fall term and 81% achieved at least a 3.0 GPA and completed the participation requirements necessary to earn a $1,000 scholarship toward the fall semester. 10 ONLINE CATALOG - RE-ENGINEERING CURRICULA MANAGEMENT Conversations about an online academic catalog system have been going on at Purdue for years, if not decades. In 2016, the Office of the Registrar got it done. In Spring 2016, the University’s online catalog launched, and for the first time ever all of Purdue’s academic information is housed in one place. Majors. Minors. Degree requirements. Course descriptions. Academic regulations. All are now available in an accessible, searchable, online resource. The system serves enrolled and prospective students by providing current and consistent information about all of Purdue’s academic programs. It serves faculty and staff by providing easy-to-use