Class of 2013 statistics belie recession's impact

    The newly matriculated Class of 2013 maintained an average level of diversity and hit record admissions statistics despite difficult financial times and an admissions process that was not entirely need-blind, according to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.
    "The academic profile of the enrolling class is, arguably, the best one in Tufts' history," Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Lee Coffin said in an e-mail.
    Eighty-five percent of the freshmen ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school class, the same as last year. The new class includes 56 valedictorians, 28 salutatorians and 56 National Merit Scholars. The mean SAT scores for enrolling students this year rose to 709 for Critical Reading, 712 for Math and 714 for Writing, each a record high. At 1421, the combined score of the first two sections is also a record.
    Reeling from the effects of an economic downturn that resulted in increased financial need from applicants and budget cuts across the university, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions suspended need-blind admissions last year for the final five percent of applicants. The office practiced the need-blind policy, in which officers do not consider an applicant's ability to pay, for the Classes of 2011 and 2012. The approach remained unofficial due to a lack of funding guaranteeing its sustainability.
    The break in need-blind admissions for the last 5 percent of applicants affected but did not dramatically alter the socioeconomic composition of the class, as demonstrated by slight decreases in financial support for incoming students.
    Thirty-five percent of enrolling students this year receive a need-based grant from Tufts, representing a one-percent drop from last year, according to Coffin. Nearly 10 percent of the incoming class consists of first generation college students, another one-percent drop from last year. The percentage of recipients who received a Pell Grant — a widely used marker of socioeconomic diversity — fell 0.5 percent from last year.
    "This past year has been the most challenging I have ever seen in many years of financial aid," Director of Financial Aid Patricia Reilly said. "Given the level of economic uncertainty and increased financial need of so many of our families I am very pleased that we have been able to enroll such a diverse and accomplished freshman class."
    While the amount of financial aid rose by 12 percent this year, the additional funds went only to current students. The decision to allocate the money that way affected the incoming class, Coffin said.
    "It is impossible to evaluate this year's admission outcomes, as successful as they are, without underscoring the essential fact that we made some difficult choices regarding the composition of the next class," he said.
    Yet the diversity of the Class of 2013 did not suffer much as a result of financial restraints.
    Twenty-four percent of the incoming class is made up of students of color from the United States, down three percent from last year but similar to the Class of 2010's percentage. Non-monetary factors contributed to this drop, Coffin said.
    "This decrease reflects the pressures on the financial aid budget as well as the continued expansion of diversity initiatives at several of the Ivies, which enrolled larger numbers of our accepted diversity candidates than usual," he said.
    Lisa Coleman, director of institutional diversity, supported Coffin's statement that although the diversity of the incoming class is slightly lower than usual, it is not a drastic change. "We typically receive somewhere around 25 percent domestic students of color. This year's racial profile is typical," she said.
    The number of enrolling international students remained the same at 9 percent. South Korea, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Canada and India are the five countries that boast the largest number of students in the class.
    Tufts accepted about the same number of students this year as last year, according to Coffin. Because the number of applications to Tufts decreased by 3.8 percent this year, though, the 26.5 percent acceptance rate was slightly higher than last year's, rising one percent.
    The Class of 2013 is an average size with 1,313 freshmen. The incoming class consists of 1,118 students in the School of Arts and Sciences and 195 in the School of Engineering. Fifty-eight students came off of the waitlist this year, most of whom were financial aid candidates. Seventy-one transfer students will enroll at Tufts this fall.