2008 Woodie Awards
SAT may become optional
Trustees discuss altering admission process
Jessica Davis, Content Manager
Issue date: 10/17/06
Last Updated: 12/26/07
Incoming students applying to Whitworth may have the option of not submitting SAT scores next year.
Whitworth Enrollment Services and Academic Affairs discussed the proposal with Trustees during the Board of Trustees meetings last week.
The proposal aims to increase the applicant pool in order to maintain the admission's annual growth rate goal of 2 percent.
"From the practical side, we have to consider any measure that will increase the applicant pool," President Bill Robinson said.
To meet this goal, the college has a parallel goal to build the number of applicants from 2,000 to 2,500 by 2010, according to the college's strategic plan.
"Other institutions have seen a 10 to 40 percent increase in the applicant pool," said Fred Pfursich, dean of enrollment services.
Applicants eclipsed the goal this year as a record-setting 2,689 prospective students applied for fall 2006. In spite of the large amount of applicants, there were only 19 more freshman enrolled than last year's class.
To help make sure more students commit to Whitworth, the board passed a resolution to increase the enrollment deposit from $200 to $350. The deposit had not been raised in 15 years.
Because of college's relatively low enrollment deposit, prospective students were depositing at two or three schools but then chose others, Pfursich said.
Out of 100 of the top liberal arts schools in the United States, 27 have changed to a SAT optional model, according to US News & World Report.
Another concern is that several types of students are missing from the applicant pool. Bates College in Lewiston, Maine changed to the SAT optional model 23 years ago. Bates is ranked in the top 25 liberal arts schools, according to US News & World Report.
Bates did a 20-year study on the academic performance of non-submitting SAT students, Pfursich said. He reported that Bates found little difference between the graduation rates and GPA of submitters verses non-submitters.
Whitworth Enrollment Services and Academic Affairs discussed the proposal with Trustees during the Board of Trustees meetings last week.
The proposal aims to increase the applicant pool in order to maintain the admission's annual growth rate goal of 2 percent.
"From the practical side, we have to consider any measure that will increase the applicant pool," President Bill Robinson said.
To meet this goal, the college has a parallel goal to build the number of applicants from 2,000 to 2,500 by 2010, according to the college's strategic plan.
"Other institutions have seen a 10 to 40 percent increase in the applicant pool," said Fred Pfursich, dean of enrollment services.
Applicants eclipsed the goal this year as a record-setting 2,689 prospective students applied for fall 2006. In spite of the large amount of applicants, there were only 19 more freshman enrolled than last year's class.
To help make sure more students commit to Whitworth, the board passed a resolution to increase the enrollment deposit from $200 to $350. The deposit had not been raised in 15 years.
Because of college's relatively low enrollment deposit, prospective students were depositing at two or three schools but then chose others, Pfursich said.
Out of 100 of the top liberal arts schools in the United States, 27 have changed to a SAT optional model, according to US News & World Report.
Another concern is that several types of students are missing from the applicant pool. Bates College in Lewiston, Maine changed to the SAT optional model 23 years ago. Bates is ranked in the top 25 liberal arts schools, according to US News & World Report.
Bates did a 20-year study on the academic performance of non-submitting SAT students, Pfursich said. He reported that Bates found little difference between the graduation rates and GPA of submitters verses non-submitters.
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