University of Iowa enacting March 1 application deadline

IOWA CITY - If the current pace of University of Iowa applications, admissions and acceptances for next fall continues, the institution could see another historic freshman class - topping 6,000 for the first time.

And UI enrollment officials say that 'is really not where we want to be,” citing UI President Bruce Harreld's goal to maintain an enrollment 'sweet spot” of between 5,400 to 5,700 freshmen.

Thus, the institution this spring is moving its application deadline from May 1 to March 1.

Those who apply after March 1 will be wait-listed, UI Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management Brent Gage said Wednesday. Late-applying students still could be considered - depending on the number of already admitted students who accept.

But even those eligible for assured entrance based on a Board of Regents admission index wouldn't automatically get in if they apply after the new March deadline.

'We want to make sure that the students that come here as first-year students have a great experience,” Gage said.

Gov. Terry Branstad recently proposed taking back $25.5 million in state appropriations from the Board of Regents for the current budget year - although it's unclear how much would be deducted from each of the state's public universities. The governor also has proposed modest funding increases for the next two years that wouldn't get the universities back to their current funding levels - should lawmakers approve the proposed cuts.

But Gage said UI's new enrollment management strategies have more to do with existing on-campus resources than with potential budget concerns.

'This is more about what do we have the capacity to do and do well?” he said.

As of Monday, the university had received about 22,000 freshman applications - up about 2.4 percent over last year. It had admitted about 19,000 prospective students - representing a 5.9 percent increase. And about 2,230 students had accepted admission and paid their fees, an increase of nearly 15 percent.

Acceptances typically ramp up as the spring semester progresses, according to Gage.

'We know of the 19,000 there's a number of those students who are still deciding or who have not decided to pay an acceptance fee, many of whom are fully intending to come to Iowa,” he said.

Last year's total UI freshman class clocked in at 5,643, and Gage said enrollment projections show the institution surpassing that this year.

'If everything remains constant, we're probably going to be at a number that's a little bit larger than we'd ideally like to be at,” he said.

UI saw a similar spike in interest last spring, prompting officials to make its May 1 deadline for accepting admission and paying the $250 fee firm. Previously, the UI Office of Admissions had been flexible with admitted students who hadn't gotten around to accepting by May 1.

Under the change in practice last year, the university canceled the admission of any student who failed to accept and pay their fee by May 1. Those folks were allowed to reach out and request to be placed on a waitlist for the fall, but they weren't promised anything.

And Gage said they won't be assured admission again this year if prospective applicants miss the new March 1 deadline or if admitted students miss the May 1 acceptance deadline.

'The president, in his vision and as it relates to the strategic plan, would like to really look at, ‘What is the ideal size of the institution?” Gage said.

Harreld's goal to right-size the university diverges from former UI President Sally Mason's push to grow the campus - especially its portion of in-state students. Mason, before she retired in 2015, rolled out plans and launched recruitment efforts to up enrollment after the Board of Regents proposed a 'performance based funding” model that would have divvied up state allocations based on metrics like in-state enrollment.

Lawmakers didn't support that proposal, but Gage said some of the recent spike in UI interest likely is related to those past efforts.

'We really were billed to go out and share a very strong message about the University of Iowa and have done so for the past several years,” he said. 'Through that, we had a lot of students who inquired and wanted more information and have been communicating with us over the last several years as they prepared to make their college decision.”

Breaking down this year's acceptances, Gage said, 'We are very far ahead on our Iowa-resident students.” About 19 percent more students from Iowa have accepted admission this year than last. Non-resident acceptances are up about 3 percent.

Still, Gage said, he doesn't expect UI will dramatically alter its recruitment efforts or strategies going forward.

'We want to make sure students are aware of the opportunities and encourage those who think we're the right fit to apply and do so in a manner that gives us an opportunity as an institution to respond to make sure that we're providing them the best educational experience,” Gage said.

Like at UI, Iowa State University President Steven Leath last fall expressed hopes of dialing down its enrollment growth - which has exploded over the past decade, jumping from a total 25,462 in 2006 to 36,660 last fall.

But ISU spokesman John McCarroll on Wednesday told The Gazette his institution is not changing its admission process or implementing any application deadline.

'As the state's land-grant university, access for all Iowans is critically important,” he said.

ISU applications, admissions, and acceptances to date are 'tracking very closely” to numbers one year ago, McCarroll said. University of Northern Iowa is reporting a slight increase in freshman applications and admissions, but Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management Matt Kroeger said acceptances are mostly flat compared with the past two semesters.

For UNI, May 1 will continue to be the 'priority date for new freshman to accept their offer of admission.”

'As a public university, this provides us the ability to maintain a high level of accessibility,” he said.

l Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com