Applicants to Queens University of Charlotte, N.C., are up 37 percent over last year. The numbers have also jumped at Davidson College (up 10 percent), Johnson C. Smith University (10 percent) and UNC Charlotte (5 percent).

Winthrop University in Rock Hill, N.C., has four to five applicants for each available space in the next freshman class of 1,000 to 1,075 students. A number of trends are fueling the rise.

Nationwide, the current high school senior class is the largest in 20 years. They’re applying to college in record numbers and the process has never been more user-friendly – with most colleges accepting applications online. Some schools waive application fees if students file that way. More seniors are casting wider nets, applying to multiple colleges. The “Common Application” works at 315 schools nationally – including eight in the Carolinas. A student can apply to several schools with the punch of a computer button.

Source >> kansascity.com

University of Dayton Application Increase is Six Times National Average

In 2008 the University of Dayton (UD), Ohio’s largest private university, experienced a 37 percent increase in undergraduate applications, a mark six times higher than the national average of six percent as reported by the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

Applications were hovering around 8,000 in previous years but spiked to 11,224 in 2008, the most in the university’s history. Additionally, average applicant SAT scores rose as predicted by the implementation of increased application requirements. This impressive swell is the result of a comprehensive marketing effort on the part of UD.

Toward the overall goal of more students graduating from Louisiana universities — and doing so at a faster rate — the newly approved college admissions criteria are a positive step forward .. reports The Times – Shreveport – Bossier City, LA.

Too many underprepared students assigned to too many remedial courses or struggling in initial courses end up contributing to dismal college graduation rates. The return on investment, for both the Louisiana student and the taxpayer, wouldn’t garner anyone’s star rating.

Congratulations to the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for adopting its “Core 4″ high school curriculum and to the Louisiana Board of Regents for aligning with BESE to strengthen admissions requirements for all Louisiana public four-year universities.

The new criteria mean that in order to qualify for public college admission, Louisiana high school graduates in 2012 and thereafter must complete a core of courses that includes 19 units, a 1.5-unit increase. That includes four units of the “Core 4″: English, mathematics, science and social studies. The Regents upped the total number of math and science credits, added a unit of approved social science and allowed the option of two units of specially designed speech courses, which could be used in place of the current foreign language requirement. The board also banished the half-unit computer literacy requirement, a useful move that acknowledges the now-pervasive presence of computers in our society.

There has been concern about additional math requirements exacerbating dropout rates for students who aren’t college bound, giving urgency to those advocating dual tracks as part of a high school redesign.>> Read more