An article on Drexel.edu titled “Drexel University Freshman Applications Increase a Record 27 Percent over Last Year” reports that 24,186 students have applied for only 2,500 spots at the university.

The university has settled on 2,500 as the number for incoming freshman, and Joan McDonald implies that the university is now focusing on quality, not quantity. The article mentions that the 2007 incoming class had 2,368 students from 1,321 high schools and had an average G.P.A. of 3.5 and average SAT of 1200, and they want to continue raising those averages.

The article also discussed the school’s continued devotion, started by Anthony J. Drexel, to teach skills to the middle class and lower income brackets, with 2,024 students this year using Pell Grants, four times as many as Harvard, Yale, and Lehigh, and twice as many as University of Pennsylvania.

Drexel is getting away from being a regional school and slowly becoming a national school, according to the article. Ten years ago, only 5% of Drexel students were from areas besides PA, NJ, and DE, In 2007, that number was up to 30%, included 48 states and 46 countries.

You can read the full article here: Applications up 27 Percent
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