The University admissions acceptance rate for the Class of 2015 was 38.58 percent, an increase of 3.16 percent from the Class of 2014, according to Vice President for Students and Enrollment Keenyn McFarlane in an interview with the Justice. For the Class of 2015, 8917 students applied to the University, out of which 3440 students were accepted, resulting in a 38.58 percent acceptance rate.

Between the Class of 2013 and the Class of 2014, however, the acceptance rate dropped 5.02 percent, according to McFarlane.
For the Class of 2014, there were 7,753 applicants with 2,746 acceptances, resulting in an acceptance rate of 35.42 percent. For the Class of 2013, there were 6,815 applicants and 2,756 acceptances, resulting in an acceptance rate of 40.44 percent, according to McFarlane.

In 2009, the Curricular and Academic Restructuring Steering Committee recommended that the University increase its enrollment by 400 over 5 years.

The goal is to have the Class of 2015 be between 800 and 900 students, said McFarlane.

In an interview with the Justice, Associate Dean of Student Life Jamele Adams said that the increase in students will "affect everything . from class size in the classrooms to the availability of human resources, to the line at the Stein, the line at Sherman, Usdan, it will affect availability during the housing lottery, it will affect parking."

McFarlane said, "There are certainly concerns about ensuring the quality of life for our students. We don't anticipate there being any radical changes in housing, particularly because we had the lower incoming class last year but certainly the additional students would add to the fabric of Brandeis."

"Application numbers increased this past year and it's a positive sign for Brandeis but one in which we know is tempered by the fact that online applications and common applications makes it easier for students to apply to multiple schools," said McFarlane.

McFarlane attributed the 3.16 percent increase in the acceptance rate between the classes of 2014 and 2015 to "a conscious decision to accept more students this year in order to yield a class size that we are hoping to yield, which is slightly more than we enrolled last year."

"An increase in the acceptance rate from this year to next year is not out of line with the historic acceptance rate at Brandeis," he added. McFarlane noted that the acceptance rate is typically in the high 30-percent or 40-percent range.

According to recommendations from the Curricular and Academic Restructuring Steering in 2009, the University planned to increase the class size of each class, starting with the Class of 2013, by 100 students. The University followed these guidelines for the Class of 2013, when it enrolled 781 students.

The number of matriculated students for the Class of 2014, however, did not meet the CARS standards. According to McFarlane, 735 students matriculated in the Class of 2014.
In 2014, "we did not get the number of students to matriculate that we hoped for," said McFarlane. Reasons for the low matriculation rate included a "competitive environment" as well as economic issues, described McFarlane.

In fact, for the Class of 2014, McFarlane said, a larger number of students were admitted off the waitlist than had been in previous years.

"Our competitiveness as [it] relates to other institutions relative to financial aid is a factor as well," said McFarlane.

The University adopted a new financial aid policy in September 2010. Based on the recommendation of the Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid Committee, the new policy would continue to admit students on a need-blind basis and fully meet that need until all available funds are exhausted and then continue to admit students, if necessary, on a need-sensitive basis.

"We hope that the new financial aid policy has a positive effect on the matriculation rate. Certainly if you are saying to a student 'We will meet your full need' we think that that's a way to let them know that we want them here," said McFarlane.
McFarlane added that the new financial aid policy did impact admissions decisions.

"We certainly factored in an increase in the yield on the students we accepted but we will have to wait and see whether those assumptions hold true," he said.

According to McFarlane, admissions standards were not affected by this change.

Adams added, "I believe that the University will do its best to make sure that we are as prepared as possible to meet the needs and necessities required to successfully and warmly extend our Brandeis family."

Dean of Admissions Mark Spencer referred all questions to McFarlane.