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For the fourth year in a row, a record-breaking number of students have applied for admission to �԰����� for Fall 2019. This figure currently sits at 9,569 applications, and Eric Maloof, vice president for Enrollment Management, estimates �԰����� will receive 9,800 applications in total.

Because of the increase in applications, Maloof estimates the admission rate dropping to 29 percent, the lowest in University history. The admission rate was 64 percent as recently as 2013 and has steadily decreased since. �԰����� boasted an admission rate of 34 percent last year.

Maloof notes that the quality of students applying is increasing alongside the number of applications. Of the students already admitted for the Fall 2019 first-year class, the average SAT score is 1404, the mean high school GPA is 3.74, and the mean ACT score is 31.4, all improvements over 2018.

“This year, in particular, the academic quality of the applicant pool is the highest it’s ever been, as measured by standardized test scores and grades,” Maloof says. “We’re really excited that the demand for a �԰����� education has never been higher, and from highly qualified students who are going to have a lot of options when it comes to their college search. We’re finding the right students, and the right students are finding us.”

Maloof also notes that the increase in applications is consistent across geographic distribution and diversity. For example, �԰����� received substantial application increases from students living in Texas, out of state, and overseas. Additionally, �԰����� saw significant increases in the number of applications from across all demographics including first-generation and non-white students.

“I continue to be impressed by the diversity in the applicant pool that we attract,” Maloof says. “We’re generating broad interest from people with different backgrounds, perspectives, and situations, and they all find �԰����� to be a potentially good fit for their needs and interests as prospective university students. We’re really excited that more people from different backgrounds are identifying �԰����� as one of their top choices in a highly competitive and crowded marketplace.”

Last year, �԰����� received 8,653 applications. The current number of applications (9,569) exceeds that pool by more than 900 applications, and if the anticipated 9,800 students apply, that would be a roughly 13 percent increase over last year’s total applications. It would also mark a 118 percent increase in applications compared to just six years ago, when 4,505 students applied to �԰�����.

“We’re thrilled with the interest �԰����� is getting, and we feel it’s much-deserved,” Maloof says. “We anticipated an application increase, but this is more than we imagined. We knew we would be up—we simply didn’t know we’d be up by this much, particularly as it relates to the quality of the applicant pool.”

Maloof credits a number of factors for influencing the increase in applications, including a talented and dedicated Enrollment Management team, their partnership with �԰�����’s Office of Strategic Communications and Marketing, where he says “we’ve been more aggressive in telling our story to more people who we’ve identified as being potentially good fits for �԰�����,” record-breaking attendance at visit days on campus, and the wide range of degree programs that the University offers.

“We have one of the best faculties in the country, we have significant resources for students that create opportunities in and out of the classroom, we are in a dynamic city that’s growing in size and sophistication, and we’re in Texas, where the economy is strong,” Maloof explains. “People are catching on that �԰����� is a special institution, and that San Antonio is a great city to attend college.”