STUDENT ENROLMENT

Institutional Goal

• Increase undergraduate enrolments in a manner consistent with the continuing increase in the quality of the student body, specifically:

• Increase the number of applicants;
• Increase uptake rates from applicants;
• Increase the number of students recruited into first year;
• Increase Carleton's share of the Ottawa-Carleton student market;
• Increase Carleton's share of the Greater Toronto market;

While improving "quality", as measured by the high school entrance average, so that the entrance average increases by approximately .5 of a percentage point per year.

Commentary:

• The overall admissions average of Canadian high school students registering in first year at Carleton increased from 78.7% in 1999 to 80.1% in 2000. The entrance average rose in almost all degree programs, including a 1.4% increase in the B.A. The provincial average for all registered students, as reported by the Ontario Universities Application Centre, was 80.1% in Fall 1998.
• In 2000 the number of applicants increased by 8% over 1999 - having increased by 18% from 1998 to 1999. The total number of new first year undergraduate registrants increased by 19% in 1999, as compared to 1998 but declined marginally between 1999 and 2000. This decline in new registrations resulted in a decreasing uptake rate - from 32% in 1998 to 30% in 1999 and currently sits at 28%. The decline in the uptake rate is partly explained by an increase in the number of universities to which a typical applicant applies. (There is also a database anomaly relating to the B. Engineering program - all applicants who had not responded by a specified date had their approvals 'deferred' resulting in a high percent registered (of approved, 82%) but a low percent approved (28%) ).
• The number of first choice applicants increased by 360 students; the number who named Carleton as their third (or lower preference) increased by 700 applicants. The number of second choice applicants declined slightly. The percentage of applicants approved fell from 70% to 61%, while the percent registered (of approved) stayed stable at 34%. The fall in approved applicants is not due to lower applicant entrance averages (see table in this section) but likely due to volume processing delays in the admission process.
• The number of applicants who applied through the Ontario Universities Application Centre from the Ottawa-Carleton region increased 6.9% between 1999 and 2000 with similar increased applications in other regions. The percent registered of approved remained stable in all regions - as to be expected, the highest percentage is 54% in the Ottawa-Carleton region.
• The total number of students in first year was almost unchanged between 1999 and 2000 but the number of new students registering in first year declined by 1.3% - the stability in the first year class size is due to the carry-over of the large increase in admissions in 1999.