By: Corie Tucciarella
The acceptance rate at Stevenson University is seeing a steep, upward increase. For the 2021 academic year, the SU website lists an acceptance rate for incoming students for fall 2021 at 89 percent. Although COVID-19 has been seen as a catalyst for temporary changes in acceptance rate, in fact, the number has been steadily increasing for several years.
The acceptance rate at Stevenson University has slowly risen over the past ten years. Government sources listed on collegecompare.com show the incremental increase as well as some slight variances. Spanning 2011 to 2013 the acceptance increased 1.48 percent from 58.15 percent acceptance to 59.59 percent acceptance. Dating 2014 to 2015 we see a rise and fall in acceptance, spiking 2.72 percent in one year to 62.31 percent and falling 2.57 percent the next year to 59.74 percent. From 2016 to 2017 the rate stayed relatively stable increasing only 0.11 percent from 60.76 percent to 60.87 percent. The next two years show the greatest increase. From 2017 to 2018 we see a 12.29 percent increase in acceptance growing from the previous mark of 60.87 to 73.16 percent. The next year the acceptance grew another 7.62 percent to 80.78 percent.
Associate Director of Admissions, Katey Fitzgerald, speaks to the rise in admissions. Fitzgerald expresses the reason why the change has occurred and the benefit it has for the students. “The Admissions Office works hard at accepting a quality class and actively helps students complete their files. We did away with the SAT/ACT requirement last year due to students’ difficulty in accessing standardized tests during the pandemic, and this helped more students complete their files with one fewer requirement. With COVID-19, most enrollment models showed it was very difficult to know how incoming students would be impacted and we decided to admit more students. We can’t speak to the future just yet, as it depends on [COVID-19],” said Fitzgerald.
In the past, Stevenson University’s acceptance has stayed in the 60 percent range. The acceptance rate over the past ten years has averaged that steady rate. Collegetuitioncompare.com charts this trend by plotting the average acceptance rate and enrollment. The admission trends reflect the last ten-year period.
The study according to college tuition compare charts specifically, “[The average] number of applicants is 5,315, the average number of admitted is 3,354, and the average number of enrolled students is 741 over the last 10 years. At Stevenson University, the number of applicants decreased 1.40% (61 applicants) from the previous.”
The trends leave plenty of questions. The data shows thousands of applications received and accepted. However, enrollment is in the hundreds each year. This prompts the question of if students are choosing other schools they have received offers from.
Despite deviation of offers given and student acceptance, Stevenson, ranked the best value college by USA News four years in a row shows the credibility of the institution. This continuous prosperity of reputation could also have an impact.
Despite boasting an 89 percent acceptance rate this year. World ranking and accolades such as the one awarded by USA News Today prove the higher number of acceptances does not affect the student’s value of education. Doors now are opening for more students to grow at the institute.
