The number of applications to the class of 2014 fell slightly from last year’s record high, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions announced today.
Approximately 25,800 students have submitted applications, down from the 26,000 applications received for the class of 2013. By contrast, the number of applications to Harvard and Princeton continued to climb this year, by 5 percent and 19 percent, respectively. Jeff Brenzel, Yale’s dean of undergraduate admissions, said he expects the admission rate to remain unchanged from last year at 7.5 percent.
Brenzel said Yale’s decline, though different from its peers, is not a surprise because Yale has experienced a 35 percent increase in applications over the past two admissions cycles (before this year), whereas Harvard’s and Princeton’s pools have only grown 27 and 16 percent, respectively, over the same period.
“Our non-binding early admissions program saw continued growth in the quality and academic achievements of all applicants, with increases in the number of low-income and minority candidates,” Brenzel said. The number of male applicants also saw a modest rise this year to 46 percent from 45 percent in the past two years, he added.
Over the past decade, the number of applicants to Yale College has doubled — an unprecedented change Brenzel attributed to financial aid reforms abolishing parental contribution for families earning less than $60,000 annually, the renovation and expansion of campus facilities, and investments in science and engineering.
Regular decisions for the class of 2014 will be released April 1. Admitted students will have until May 1 to decide whether to matriculate.