Decision Day: UC receives record number of first-year applications

UC is receiving a record number of applications for its incoming first-year class – more than 22,000. That’s currently up by 1,144 over the total number of first-year applications received for Fall 2018. 

And for many of those more than 22,000 students, today is Decision Day 2019, when nearly 15,000 of those admitted to the Uptown Campus will receive the good news that they’ve been accepted to the university to pursue their studies. 

According to Tamara Byland, assistant vice provost of admissions, the university’s appeal to prospective students is based on a number of strengths.  

“One of those,” she explained, “Is that students are seeking UC because our experience-based learning opportunities prepare them for the life they want to live after graduation.” 

That experience-based learning, an important aspect of the university’s Next Lives Here strategic direction, comes in the form of “hire learning” as represented by:

• UC’s Top 20-ranked co-op program, where students earn a collective $66 million annually working for 1,800 global employers in student internships and employment opportunities directly related to their majors. 

• UC is considered a research heavyweight, with the National Science Foundation ranking the university among the top 40 U.S. public institutions, thanks to a culture strongly emphasizing collaboration between faculty and students in order to solve complex problems and further scientific advancement. The university fosters early stage research and launches start-up companies via an expanding innovation incubator, the 1819 Innovation Hub, providing a key location amidst Cincinnati’s rising Innovation Corridor.
  

• Research and real-world innovation opportunities – like UC’s Venture Lab – are made available to students. In fact, Reuters recently named UC among the world’s top 100 most-innovative universities, one of only 46 U.S. universities to make that prestigious list.  
  

Of the total 22,232 first-year applications received to date, nearly 18,000 were made for admission to UC’s Uptown Campus by the December 1 Early Action Deadline. It is those students who are receiving their admission decisions today. 

Of those nearly 18,000 students:

• Overall, they represent a 3.7 percent increase in Uptown applications over last year.

• The current pool of Uptown applicants is more diverse, with a 6.7 percent increase in African American undergraduate applicants and a 12.4 percent increase in Hispanic applicants.
  

• UC currently has an 8.8 percent increase in out-of-state Uptown applications, with the furthest coming from Honolulu, Hawaii. Outside of the Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky area, the top four home states for those applying to UC undergraduate programs are Illinois, Michigan, California and Pennsylvania.
  

• International undergraduate applications are up 38 percent. The furthest international undergraduate applicant comes from Guam, 7,612 miles from UC. The top three countries for UC undergraduate applicants are India, China and Vietnam. 

(Important note: The above application and admission acceptance figures do not include UC’s top-ranked College Conservatory of Music and College of Nursing. These two colleges are on different admissions cycles.) 

Even with Uptown admissions decisions going out today for many undergraduate applicants, opportunities for admission – with acceptances on a rolling basis – are still available in select Uptown programs until March 1. In addition, UC’s regional campuses – UC Blue Ash College and Clermont College – accept applications on a rolling basis until July 1.

It won’t be until the end of August that the final size and characteristics of UC’s incoming class are finalized and known; however, UC has already enjoyed six straight years of rising enrollment.