Who Are Our Students? A longitudinal report on the profile of Carleton students.

Carleton’s Enrolling Students in a Time of Changing Admissions Markets 2 Source: CIRP Freshman Survey Trends. The number of other college applications has risen steadily since the 1970s. (Common Application, online applications) Early decision has always been an important factor at Carleton. Although the percentage of students who see Carleton as their “first choice” is declining, is it still very strong relative to the growing number of other applications. 1 st choice 6+ other apps No other apps

Quality Indicators – Carleton’s Entering Class 3 Source: Admissions Office.

Student Budget = Total Charges + personal, books, and travel expenses.

Comparison group: US New and World Report Top 17

Actual Graduation Rate (Four-year averages of six-year graduation rate)

Comparison group: US New and World Report Top 17 Freshman Retention Rates (Four-year averages)

Socio-economic diversity Median income & below 12.87% 11.28% Median income to 100K 20.02% 13.93% 100K and above 28.74% 30.68% Number not on need-based aid 38.48% 44.11% Rough calculation comparing first two years of data from to last two years of data ( ), norming for 2010 dollars. Because of shifting categories, this data is approximate. Intervening years are difficult to map exactly, but the trend appears consistent.

Male/Female Balance

Diversity minority and nonresident as percent of full-time undergraduate class

Academic Year Area and ethnic studies6.4%6.1%6.2%6.5%5.5%2.9%6.3%4.8%4.9%4.3%4.0% Computer and information sciences1.8%3.5%4.6%2.6%6.0%4.9%2.5%2.2%3.7%2.6%3.7% Foreign languages and literature5.0%2.8%3.0%4.7%5.1%5.6%6.7%5.0%4.5%3.4%3.7% English10.3%11.3%7.3%7.1%8.7%9.1%6.3%9.0%6.7%7.3%7.7% Biological/life sciences11.2%13.6%12.5%13.4%12.6%10.1%11.4%10.4%10.2%11.9%12.1% Mathematics3.7%3.3%2.7%4.2%4.4%2.9%3.1%4.8%4.9%3.4%5.0% Interdisciplinary studies0.7%0.9%0.7%0.0%1.8%1.4%1.5%1.2%1.8%0.8%0.4% Philosophy and religious studies5.0%3.8%4.3%5.1%4.6%2.7%5.1%4.0%4.1% 6.1% Physical sciences15.0%12.7%13.4%11.9%9.2%12.1%8.0%12.6%15.5%12.3%13.6% Psychology8.0%5.9% 6.9%5.7%6.0%7.8%8.0%3.7%7.9%6.6% Social sciences & History26.7%28.0%30.0%26.1%27.5%31.3%32.7%31.3%31.7%34.6%30.1% Visual and performing arts5.7%8.0%9.3%13.3%8.9%11.0%8.6%7.2%8.3%7.3%7.2% Percent of total majors, including double majors (broad discipline)

CIRP Freshman Survey Trends

Summary Observations In many ways our student body is similar to what it was. We have seen slight growth in academic metrics (SAT, ACT), roughly on a par with our competitors. There is significant growth in our domestic and international diversity. We have more students from wealthier families, with a corresponding decline among middle-class families (and modest decline in the lowest income categories). There are measurable changes in some self-reported information from CIRP, such as religious activity, concern about financing college, GPA ambitions. More financial aid is being provided via grant; typically less is expected in “self-help” (loans, student work).

How do We Represent the College? Invitation for a discussion of Admissions materials Possible times: Thursday, May 19, from 12:00 to 1:00 Friday, June 3, from 12:00 to 1:00 Please send a note to to let me know if you are available; we’ll choose the time we can get the most