Fredonia, N.Y. — July 21, 2008 — SUNY Fredonia today announced
|
New freshmen attend Summer Orientation at SUNY Fredonia. Photo Album from Orientation '08 |
Having received more than 6,500 applications from high school seniors for the fall 2008 term — a university record, and up more than 600 from a year ago — Fredonia stands today with more than 1,200 deposits from students eager to become members of its Class of 2012.
“We are extremely happy to declare the 2008 fall term closed, as we prepare to welcome the biggest class —and the strongest, academically, in terms of both standardized test scores and high school averages — the Fredonia campus has ever experienced,” said President Dennis L. Hefner.
President Hefner is quick to point out that higher numbers of applications did not translate into a drastic increase in total enrollment.
“We like our size, and really have no intentions of becoming much larger than we presently are,” he said. “This influx of applications has led to a net of only 30 more incoming freshmen than last year’s freshmen class. However, it’s allowed us to become more selective in our admissions process, giving us higher caliber students across the board, and that’s exactly what we’re trying to achieve.”
At just over 5,100 undergraduates, SUNY Fredonia is the third-largest university in Western New York. However, the administration prides itself on the fact that few people come away from its campus with a large school feeling.
“Our students receive excellent personal attention,” Dr. Hefner continued. “They appreciate our small class sizes, our 16-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio, and our beautiful, spacious campus. It all adds up to a very close, personal connection with Fredonia, and that’s immediately evident when you talk to them.”
SUNY Fredonia met its initial goal of 1,100 freshman deposits on May 2, two weeks prior to its spring Commencement.
“We generated a 10 percent increase in applications over 2007-2008, with growth occurring across virtually all departments and majors,” said Chris Dearth, director of Admissions. “This is the earliest we’ve closed our admissions office to undergraduate applications in many years.”
Similarly, potential transfer student applications also increased. There were 147 additional submissions, which reflected an 11 percent jump over the prior year and have led to another 450 deposits.
Dearth credits Fredonia’s core strengths — academic reputation, value, small class sizes and safe campus — as well as new marketing strategies (such as a new television ad, more targeted print ads and direct mail) for this recruitment success. His eight admissions counselors also attended more college fairs and visited more high schools than ever before.
“We encouraged more students to experience Fredonia first-hand,” Dearth explained. “We have a very high application rate among those who physically visit the campus and meet our faculty. Over 85 percent of our new students attended at least one on-campus event this year.”
In fact, Fredonia hosted close to 10,000 students and parents at open houses, Saturday visits and daily information sessions this year.
