Allegheny is our list so I was looking at their website. Their president is retiring at the end of this school year and the school in the process of a presidential search. They have posted an interesting document about the current state of the school and their future plans. One item in particular struck me. They are planning to reduce the size of the student body:
“The College is also strategically and deliberately moving towards a student body of 1,700, which would more closely match its historical size.”
I can’t find a number for the class of 2022. According to CDS total enrollment in
17-18, 1802
16-17, 1920
15-16, 1931
14-15, 2023
so I skipped back
2007-2008, 2193
2003-2004, 1849
Is 1700 is a more sustainable goal in the future due to demographic trends? Are other schools doing this?
Also what kind of impact does a new president have on a small LAC?
According to the report, they have increased their endowment from $147,000,000 to $221,000,000 in the last five years. That sounds positive to me.
I can’t speak to your questions with any expertise, but I like the sound of what I’m reading. 1700 is a typical number for LAC’s from what I’ve seen. The school should become more competitive and the bigger endowment will help bring in better students and staff.
I hope it ends up being successful. I think it’s a fantastic school with great professors, administration, and students. It was in my daughter’s top 2. Funny thing, though. She ultimately worried it might be too small, and for the most part was only looking at LACs. So their move to make it even smaller would not have been a positive for her.
Perhaps it has to do with improving retention rates. If you look at Section B22 of the CDS, the retention rate between freshman and sophomore years in 2005 was 90%, but it began dropping off about 5-6 years ago; according to the most recent CDS (2017-18), the retention rate between freshman and sophomore years is now 81.5% – almost a 10%-point difference. So if the college is reducing its overall number of students, maybe it is doing so with a view to admitting those who are likely to stay (perhaps Allegheny has some sort of algorithm to help identify those applicants).
Well, Allegheny has a new president! Hilary Link sounds not only qualified, but engaging, intelligent and down to earth. Allegheny is on my S19’s shortlist and I view this appointment as a positive.