At last week’s University Senate meeting and in an editorial that appeared in The Daily Orange on Feb. 21, concerns were raised about Syracuse University’s admission rate during the past several years and that diversity among students had impacted quality. I want to take this opportunity to respond to those concerns and offer some thoughts on our admission strategy and enrollment goals.

Today, SU is more popular than ever, with a record 25,000 applicants applying for admission this coming fall. Over the past several years, as we’ve grown and deepened our applicant pool, we have expanded our ability to continue improving the quality and strength of incoming classes. The demographic map of our student body shows that quality and socioeconomic diversity are not mutually exclusive. In fact, as SU’s percentage of low-income, Pell Grant-eligible students increased substantially, the average GPA of the incoming class reached the highest level ever, and SAT scores remained constant.

Focusing on the admission rate, which is the percentage of applicants who are accepted, in and of itself is not a measure of quality or strength, as it focuses on those who are being rejected rather than those who are enrolling. Nonetheless, if one chooses to focus on that single metric, SU’s admission rate has decreased, from 71.4 percent in fall 2001 to 59.7 percent in fall 2010.

Furthermore, the assertion that admission of low-income students drives up the admittance rate is wrong. In reality, a higher percentage of these students accept their offers of admission than other admitted applicants, as they typically apply to fewer institutions. Mathematically, the admission of lower-income students actually causes the admission rate to go down. 

As we think about our long-term enrollment strategy, we seek geographic and socioeconomic diversity for both pragmatic and pedagogical reasons. Pragmatically, we know the population of high school graduates continues to decrease in the Northeast (our traditional base) but increase among families in the southern and western United States. This is one reason we have begun to expand our student recruitment base nationally on the West Coast and in the South and Southwest. Success in these areas will build stronger incoming classes, enrich the geographic diversity of the student body, secure our position among high school graduates and raise the overall profile and visibility of SU.

Pedagogically, the quality of education is enhanced when students are a part of a campus community that is diverse on many levels, including geographic and socioeconomic diversity. We know there is great demand from students for our immersion and SU Aboard programs nationally and internationally precisely because their educational experience is greatly improved by the diversity they experience in these locales. At home, we must also continue to reach out and attract students to Syracuse who are diverse on many levels. So, too, the educational experience is enhanced by bringing this diversity to our campus.

With all the changes and challenges our nation and world are experiencing, more and more a great university will be defined by whom it reaches, not whom it rejects. Indeed, Student Association President Neal Casey spoke eloquently to this point at last week’s Senate meeting. He described his belief that this range of diversity has made SU a much stronger institution that better serves its student body by having students who challenge one another in many dimensions, in and out of the classroom, and bring an array of perspectives to intellectual and social engagement at Syracuse.

It is clear that with our increasing popularity with applicants, the academic quality and diversity among our students, and fundraising and support for the university at an all-time high, the value of an SU education is strong. 

Nancy Cantor

Chancellor and President

Syracuse University

Published on February 21, 2011 at 12:00 pm