A recent listing on the New York Times web site shows the University of Colorado at Boulder accepting the highest percentage of applicants for 2011. But many of the 100 schools on the list aren’t exactly peer institutions.
The survey of admissions data for this upcoming school year shows CU-Boulder accepting 84% of freshman applicants. It’s significantly higher than private colleges like Williams, but not that far off from public institutions like the University of Iowa. It reported a 76% acceptance rate. Meantime, Colorado State University, which was not on the New York Times list, said it accepted 85% of students who applied.
“What’s ultimately important is, are the students really at the top end of their class that are coming into the universities?” said CU Admissions Director Kevin MacLennan. “We feel good about [the] type of student enrolling at the university."
MacLennan said another factor playing into the university’s high acceptance rate is the so-called “yield rate” of out-of-state applicants. CU needs to accept five out-of-state students for every one student who enrolls. In state, the odds are better. One out of every two students accepted enrolls.
