A recent survey conducted by U Student Affairs officials reveals that of this year’s first-year students, 63 percent of all students polled identified the U as their primary choice as to where they wanted to earn their degrees.
But the U is not always students’ first choice.
When U President Bernie Machen delivered his annual State of the U address last Monday, he may have begun forging a new path for the future of the university.
“We will no longer be the safe fallback school for everyone in the state. We are moving toward real selectivity and excellence in our educational programs,” Machen said.
The recent enrollment freeze administrators have enacted to curb the number of applicants at the U, coupled with the Sept. 5 tuition deadline that could result in the termination of classes for students who haven’t paid their dues, seem to indicate Machen’s resolve to make that happen.
However, the study of undergraduates shows that students who selected the U as their primary school of choice applied, on average, to only two schools.
Conversely, 23 percent of students had the U as their fourth choice, and ranked Brigham Young University and BYU-Idaho above Utah’s flagship institution.
Of those 23 percent, students applied to an average of four schools.
Assistant Vice President for Student Development Kari Ellingson, a supporter of Machen’s efforts to increase admissions standards, has a simple explanation for the president’s view.
“People like coming to schools that are selective…one of the reasons we’re not ranked higher by publications like U.S. News & World Report is because of our selectivity,” she said.
The most recent college rankings by the publication released earlier this month had the U at 117.
The magazine releases annually its list of the top 248 doctorate-granting institutions.
“We have the potential to bring the U to the next level of academic excellence…I think what Bernie’s doing really has the potential to pay off,” she said.
Better safe than sorry
Salt Lake Community College has three campuses and eight teaching centers located across the Salt Lake Valley, and with more than 54,000 students currently enrolled in SLCC classes, it’s the largest institution of higher education in Utah.
“Many of our college students that are transfer students do end up going to the U, and I think it’s the location that sways most students to apply,” said Helen Cox, executive assistant to the president of SLCC.
According to Cox, nearly 60 percent of SLCC’s students are transfers, and since many of them are residents of Utah and the Salt Lake Valley, attending school at the U is a sensible option.
“They want to go someplace else in their area, and the U is ideally suited for that,” she said.
But for junior Justin Kirkham, the U is more than just an easy place to get into that’s close to home.
“I’d say it’s a step above a community college. Most people I know who don’t get into the U go to Utah State University,” he said.
Kirkham, a biology major, came to the U for the “snowboarding, mountains and med school,” but the Michigan native says getting an education at the U is an inexpensive and quality move.
“It’s cheaper for me to go to the U out-of-state than it is for me to go to Michigan State [as a Michigan resident]…The U isn’t a Harvard, but it’s a standard, good, upscale school,” he said.
The numbers game
Last fall, the U educated 28,369 total students. Compared to BYU, which this semester is educating more than 29,000 students full time, the U might not seem like a safe bet.
For an institution with less students than its major in-state rival, it may be hard to perceive the U as the fallback school that Machen contests it is.
Ellingson, who received her undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and her doctorate from the University of North Carolina, brings an East Coast perspective to the job, and observes differences between the higher education systems of Utah and other states.
“I was very surprised when I first got out here because in Utah, there was a real sense that there should be equal accessibility in higher education…some schools should just be harder to get into,” she said.
Vice President of University Relations Fred Esplin said he agrees with Machen’s assessment of the U, and with the steps that have been taken to further his goal.
“I think to some degree in the past, students have viewed the U as a fallback school, but that’s begun to change because of things like the enrollment freeze and registration cutoff,” he said. “The bar has been raised…it’s less and less likely that the U will be perceived as a place that’s easy to get into,” he said.
Esplin echoes the view of other administrators, saying Machen’s vision for the future of the U has more to do with students currently enrolled than those who have yet to step foot in a classroom.
“We need to be concerned with the students already here. We need to be sure we live within the resources we know we have,” he said.
The history of selection
In 1983, Stayner Landward, now the dean of students, was director of admissions. Back then, students looking to get into the U literally had nothing to worry about, as long as they had a high school degree.
“Some students didn’t give a lot of thought about how to prepare for college,” Landward said.
Then, in 1984, U administrators adopted the school’s first admissions criteria, though it was more qualitative than quantitative.
In addition to a high school degree, students must also have satisfied core requirements such as four units of English and three of math before applying to the U. But even that, Landward said, wasn’t enough.
“We didn’t look at how well they did, we just asked them to satisfy those requirements,” he said.
In 1990, a qualitative system of admissions was introduced to the U.
Known as the admissions index, it’s the system still in use today as a determining factor toward entry to the U.
Based on a combination of ACT scores, cumulative GPA and other factors, the minimum required index in 1990 was 90. This past academic school year, the index number rose to 93.
“Students can no longer count on attending the U if they merely graduate high school with the core requirements…it’s unethical to admit students to the U who aren’t prepared to succeed,” Landward said.
Back to the future
Associated Students of the University of Utah President Adrian Johnson is another of Machen’s supporters, and says he believes increasing selectivity can only improve the quality of education U students can expect to receive.
“I am so in support of what Bernie said…I think any challenge to students is wonderful. Give them goals to get into college,” he said.
Landward, who has seen admissions standards rise since his tenure at the U, has a word of advice for anyone planning on becoming a Ute in the future.
“For students who want to pursue a higher education, yeah, the U becomes a choice, but it needs to be made early in their high school careers…we’re not raising admissions criteria to imply we’re a better institution, we’re raising them to comply with demand,” he said.