By Andrew Willoughby
This fall, Framingham State admitted a total of 767 first-year students, an increase of three from fall 2018, according to data provided on Nov. 7 by Shayna Eddy, associate dean of Admissions.
Five-thousand-seven-hundred-six people submitted applications. Of those, 4,183 were offered
admission, an acceptance rate of 73 percent. This is an increase of five percent from 2017.
Eddy said this change is caused by an increase in the size of this year’s application pool.
There were 764 students in the incoming freshman class in fall 2017. In fall 2016, there were 749. In fall 2015, there were 855. And in fall 2014, there were 808.
For fall 2018, the University received 1,170 transfer-student applications. It accepted 964 of those students, for an acceptance rate of 59 percent. It ultimately admitted 370 transfer students, less than the previous year’s number of 424.
In fall 2016, the number of incoming transfer students was 379. In fall 2015, it was 384. And in fall 2014, it was 414.
This semester, there are 3,937 undergraduate students and 1,628 graduate students enrolled at FSU, for a total enrollment of 5,565.
Fall 2018 marks the third year FSU has used the Common Application, an online system that allows students to apply to over 700 colleges and universities through one application.
In an interview published in The Gatepost in December 2017, Jeremy Spencer, dean of enrollment management, said the implementation of the Common Application “resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of applications and acceptances from students who otherwise might not have considered Framingham State.”
In fall 2015, FSU received 4,803 applications. In fall of 2016 – the first year FSU utilized the Common App – the University received 6,204. In fall of 2017, it received 6,041. And for the fall 2018 semester it received 5,706.
In an interview published in The Gatepost in December 2017, Lorretta Holloway, vice president for enrollment and student development, said each student adds $10,000 to the University’s budget. A smaller class size leads to a smaller budget for the University.
This year, the goals were 760 6rst-year students, which the University surpassed, and 380 transfer students, which the University did not meet.
According to Eddy, the goal for next year’s incoming 6rst-year class is 800 students.
Responding to last year’s failure to reach Admissions’ goals, Eddy said the office has worked “very closely” with the University’s marketing department in order to “expand our marketing campaign over a wide variety of platforms.”
She added, “We have expanded our presence with Hobsons, which allows students to connect with us on various websites.”
According to its website, Hobsons is a service that helps prospective students identify the schools that would suit them best.
Hiral Patel, a freshman, said she chose to attend Framingham State University because she lives in Framingham. She said, “I took a tour of the school and realized it was a lot bigger than I expected. I was fascinated by it.”
Trevor Sommers, another freshman, said one of the primary reasons he chose Framingham State over other Massachusetts colleges was its relatively low tuition and student fees. He said the the University’s advertising didn’t affect his decision.
Freshman Abbey Godbout is an education student at FSU. She said she came to the University because the “education program is great for up-and-coming, aspiring teachers.”