Applications Hit Record High

A record number of students are vying for a place in Harvard College’s Class of 2009, and the 22,717 applicants exhibit greater ethnic and socioeconomic diversity than those of any past year, according to figures released last week.

Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons ’67 said he largely attributes the changes in Harvard’s applicant pool to the new financial aid program launched by University President Lawrence H. Summers. He also credits nationwide demographic trends, such as the growing number of high-school seniors applying to college.

“We’ve seen really impressive gains in a lot of the groups that we’ve been trying to attract for several years,” Fitzsimmons said. “It is encouraging...to have such a big jump.”

Applications rose 15 percent over those from the Class of 2008, which totaled 19,752, according to a press release.

According to tentative figures from the Admissions Office, 28.3 percent more African-American students applied to Harvard this year, while the number of Hispanic-American applicants increased by 15.5 percent. Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Peurto Ricans applied at comparable rates to last year.

In addition, 45 percent more intend to waive the applications fee, for which lower-income students are eligible, and 16.7 percent more applicants are seeking financial aid this year, the release said.

The Harvard Financial Aid Initiative (HFAI), which Summers announced last February, guarantees that parents earning less than $40,000 per year will not be asked to contribute to the cost of Harvard tuition. It also reduces the financial burden on parents who make between $40,000 and $60,000.

Last summer, Fitzsimmons followed up on Summers’ initiative by hiring six students to reach out to applicants from low-income backgrounds.

He hailed the recent figures as a testament to the Admissions Office’s efforts over the past year, in addition to national trends among high-school seniors.

“There seems to be a quiet revolution,” he said. “All forms of diversity have increased. At the same time, academic strength has been increasing.”

For the next three to four years, the number of high-school seniors will rise, and an increasing percentage of those students will come from economically challenged backgrounds, Fitzsimmons said.

Several of the nation’s top colleges have also seen large increases in the size of their applicant pools in recent years.

Applications to Princeton University rose by 17 percent this year, according to a press release.

Yale University saw only a marginal increase in the number of applicants this year, said Richard Shaw, Yale’s dean of admissions. However, more than 19,000 students—a record for Yale—applied for their Class of 2008 last year.

“We are also attracting, particularly in comparison to past years, a more diverse applicant pool,” Shaw said.

While Harvard also saw an increase in the diversity of its applicants this year, the candidates for Class of 2009 seem just as strong as in the past, according to Fitzsimmons.

The SAT scores, academic plans, and geographic distribution of this year’s candidates closely resemble those of past years, he said.

Slightly more women than men applied to Harvard this year, although the ratio still stands close to 50 percent each. Although exact percentages fluctuate annually, the number of female applicants has generally increased in recent years.

Fitzsimmons noted that small changes in the composition of the applicant pool rarely influence admissions decisions, which are based on individual merits.

He added that he thinks the controversy over Summers’ comments about women and science will probably not affect the College’s yield in the spring.

The Harvard Admissions Office will notify students of its decision on March 31. Students admitted to the Class of 2009 must respond by May 1.

—Staff writer Daniel J. T. Schuker can be reached at dschuker@fas.harvard.edu.