Applications To UConn Topping 48,000 In 2023

STORRS, CT — Applications are way up at the University of Connecticut — again — in what school officials are calling "an extremely competitive pool with a record number of undergraduate applications from around the world."

UConn officials Tuesday said the school has received more than 48,000 applications for its Class of 2027 at Storrs, a significant jump from last year's total of about 43,000. The 2023 application number, officials said, continues a trend in which "the university's appeal has grown so strong that each year's tally exceeds the last."

About 4,100 new students are expected to enroll at Storrs in the fall semester, and notable areas of growth include nursing, computer science and business, officials said.

In addition to the Storrs campus, about 1,675 other new first-year students are anticipated at the regional campuses in Hartford, Stamford, Waterbury and Avery Point, officials said. UConn also plans to enroll 900 transfer students from other institutions, of which about 700 will be based at Storrs, officials said.

UConn's undergraduate student body comprises about 75 percent from Connecticut and about 25 percent from "elsewhere."

UConn's applicant pool increases have bucked the national trend, in which many institutions have struggled to draw large applicant pools because the number of high school graduates has decreased, officials said. That trend at UConn can be traced back to to the mid-1990s, when the Connecticut General Assembly approved the first phase of the UConn 2000 program, aimed at "modernizing" the campuses to "set it on its current course as a national leader."

In 1996, the first year of UConn 2000, the University received 10,709 applications for admission to the Storrs campus. That number nearly doubled by 2006 and the 48,000 total for this year represents an increase of nearly 450 rom the fall of 1996.

While expanding in its enrollment and academic scope, UConn has also intentionally and strategically shaped its financial aid program, recruitment and retention efforts, along with enhancing other programs "to draw and keep talented Connecticut students whose financial circumstances might otherwise have presented real or perceived barriers," officials said. For example, UConn has an increase of 7.7 percent over last year in applications from students in the 73 schools in Connecticut’s Alliance Districts, which comprise the largest populations of people with "significant financial need," officials said.

UConn launched its Alliance Pathway program in 2021 to better connect with talented students in those districts, ensuring they receive information from their guidance counselors about UConn programs, financial aid, resources for first-generation college students and other details, officials said.

Interest from out-of-state students remains very strong and international student applications, which had been negatively impacted by the pandemic and associated travel restrictions, also continue to bounce back, officials said.

Health-related majors such as nursing and allied health continue to draw strong interest, as do traditionally popular majors like psychology, business, biological sciences, engineering, along with several liberal arts programs.

UConn is also continuing its pilot program in which undergraduate applicants can decide whether or not they wish to submit their SAT and/or ACT scores to be considered as part of the school's "holistic" review."