Binghamton University welcomed over 2,600 freshmen this year, after receiving a record number of applications from prospective students spanning a wide variety of racial and geographical backgrounds.
BU received 32,106 freshman applications for fall 2016 admission, surpassing its previous record of 30,615 in 2015. The freshman class has an average high school GPA of 95 and SAT scores above 1300 for critical reading and mathematics combined.
According to Ryan Yarosh, BU’s director of media and public relations, applications for graduate study have also reached a new high with 4,920 applications for fall admission, a 10 percent increase from last year.
Joe Tiesi, senior assistant director for undergraduate admissions, said that over 2,600 freshmen have enrolled, which has increased proportionally with the number of visitors to campus. Visitors, meaning all students who attended tours or information sessions, increased to 43,000 for this year. According to Tiesi, the University has become more competitive and the retention rate is currently at 91 percent.
“We are one of the most selective universities in the SUNY system,” Tiesi said. “This freshman class is amazing, but it’s the formula that we use consistently with all classes. These students want to come here because they know they’ll have great outcomes when they graduate.”
Randall M-J Edouard, assistant vice provost and director of admissions, said that the applicant pool this year was filled with athletes, musicians, artists and leaders who the admissions team felt would be a good fit for BU.
“This applicant pool was simply amazing because they brought a lot of that to the table — great academics and great leadership,” Edouard said. “When you spoke to students, they were very much concerned for their academics so we got a feel this year that these students really are focused academically, which means when they’re here, they’ll do well.”
This class also includes 1,060 transfer students with a mean college GPA of 3.5, including 177 from Broome Community College (BCC). Two hundred twenty have joined from the Binghamton Advantage Program, which allows students to live on the BU campus while attending BCC through a dual-admission program.
Edouard also said that BU has increased its diversity each year while maintaining quality. The incoming international student population for this year comes from 45 different countries, primarily China, India, Turkey and South Korea.
“Diversity plays a huge role in access and opportunity, and a place like Binghamton provides that for students of color, students who are LGBTQ, students who are diverse religiously, students who just bring a different perspective,” Edouard said. “We feel that it advances everything about us, it even advances our research and we have thrived because of having that.”
According to Yarosh, BU continues to have a diverse class from across New York state. About 32 percent of new students are from upstate New York — with 7 percent coming from Broome and Tioga counties, 26 percent are from Long Island and 21 percent are from New York City.
Matthew Pena, a BU tour guide and a junior majoring in business administration, said hearing about the quality of the applicants made him proud of his school.
“As a tour guide on campus, it’s amazing to see first-hand the high caliber of students coming to Binghamton,” Pena said. “I think it’s not only a reflection of the quality of education Binghamton offers, but also the unique opportunities here.”