Admission and Financial Aid Committee Minutes -- April 4, 2005

The meeting was called to order shortly after Noon.

Jim Sumner provided a report on the current admission cycle as of April 4, making the following points;

1) All letters of admission & non-admission have been sent,

2) The selection index, that is percent of admitted students vs. total apps., is the lowest in the College’s history (35%),

3) The method of selecting the number of students to admits was described in detail,

4) The total number of applications as of April 4 was 3,881 (+ 5% over ’04),

5) The total number of completed apps. was 3,178 (also + 5% over ’04),

6) Both gross and net deposits were running ahead of ’04,

7) The number of deposits from students of color was + 6% over ’04 with these details;

Total students of color; 36 vs. 10 in ‘04

African-Americans; 61 vs. 4

Asian-Americans; 7 vs. 2

Latina/Latinos; 13 vs. 4

Native Americans; 0 vs. 1

The next agenda item was resumption of the discussion of a possible increase in the Advance Deposit for new students beyond the current $200.

Sumner brought information from both the College’s Offices of the Treasurer and Financial Aid, as well as the University of Portland, as agreed at the March meeting.

The U. of Portland, an institution that historically did not require a deposit, has abandoned that practice because far too many students, who promised to enroll, did not.

The 2 campus offices mentioned above do not believe that their current practices can help the College predict which students who pay their deposit will not enroll, other that to note that about 75% of the no-shows are either international or deferred students (subsequently both Jim Swartz and Jim Sumner spoke with Nancy Combs, College Controller, about this and she agreed to join in our May meeting for further discussion).

The Committee tentatively agreed to leave the deposit at $200 and to consider a second required deposit (maybe $200 also) for deferred students the April prior to their enrollment.

The meeting was adjourned shortly after 1 PM.

-Jim Sumner