Bowling Green continues to attract new students to the University with higher enrollment rates for the third year in a row. Through the University’s new facilities on campus and partnerships around the globe, the efforts contributed to a larger freshmen class and a more prepared group for college courses.
Information released at the 15-Day Enrollment Total meeting Tuesday showed the University’s improvements including an overall freshmen enrollment growth along with an increased GPA average according to the Vice Provost for Strategic Enrollment Planning Cecilia Castellano. The freshmen GPA average is a 3.42 with an average score of 22.8 on the ACT and follows the notion that the University holds one of the most selective classes in it’s history.
Bowling Green also continues to enroll more students than the previous year with increasing diversity, with a 3.3 percent growth in students attending the University totaling to 3,542 students,
Castellano said this year 20 percent of the freshmen class is part of the multicultural programs coming from countries such as China, India, Saudi Arabia and recently there has been a growth of new students coming from Vietnam.
The new enrollments to multicultural programs added to the total of 1,190 international students that attend the University.
According to Castellano, a big contributer to attracting students to Bowling Green is the new facilities and renovations.
Castellano said not only does the quality of “academic programs tied into our new renovated facilities and the value of the investment of what you’re making at Bowling Green,” draw students to the University, but experiential learning and the Falcon Internship Guarantee program, where students are guaranteed an internship to study around the world also attracts students who want to be successful both in and out of the classroom.
The Kuhlin Center has also brought interest to perspective students looking into attending the University next academic year.
“We’ve seen a growth in the School of Communications majors this year but we anticipate Fall of ‘17 having some significant growth in those programs because the facilities were not open for students to check out,” Castellano said. “But perspective students that are coming for ‘17 are floored by the innovation and opportunities that they have to really connect what they’re learning in class into the practical world.”
Another factor that brought students to the University, other than their new facilities, is the new partnerships that the college continues to create with schools around the world. If there were specific programs that helped international enrollment at Bowling Green, it was not told during the press meeting.
Overall the new facilities, renovations, and programs brought new interest to the University creating larger classes at a more selective rate.
The College Credit Plus program (CCP) saw a large growth of students heading towards BGSU and the Firelands Campus by 38 percent to a total of 1,481 students compared to 1,074 last year. The CCP program allows students to take University courses during high school and get college credit before they are considered a full-time student at the University.
The University saw a small amount of decreases going into the new year. The Firelands campus saw a decline in overall students by 4.3 percent. A total of 2,163 students now attend the satellite campus.
The University hopes to attract new students with the new Kuhlin Center, the University Hall and Moseley Hall construction which will be finished in 2017.
