U of Vermont Admissions Get Tougher

Like many other colleges and universities across the US this year, the University of Vermont saw an increase in both the number and quality of applications submitted to it. As a result, a number of Vermont high school seniors whose GPAs and SAT scores would have all but guaranteed them admission in past years are being waitlisted or declined this year.

The University received almost 18,000 applications this year, almost 36 per cent more than last year. 2,163. Out-of-state applications rose sharply, driven by the University's rising national profile as 'a public Ivy.'

About 64 per cent of UVM students are from out-of-state. The higher tuitions paid by out-of-state students are an important source of funding for the improvements that have helped raise UVM's profile and standing, including the establishment of an Honors College and the expansion of athletics programs.

The growing number of applicants has forced UVM to become more selective in its admissions. The change has been especially dramatic in in-state admissions, which dropped from 81 per cent last year to 65 per cent this year.

UVM Provost John Bramley told the Burlington Free Press that lower acceptance rates were in the best interests of students and of the state. "We're not going to serve Vermont best by admitting everybody; it won't work," Bramley said. "We have to be selective. It's our role. We really are providing an excellent education, and that is reverberating in Vermont because that's why we're seeing our applications go up."

Source: "UVM Increases Selectivity in Admissions Process," by Jill Fahy - the Burlington Free Press, April 21, 2006