Admissions programs to attract top scholars

By Jack Jeffery

Ohio University utilizes an aggressive recruiting approach to attract top high school scholars. The Student Achievement Awards and Scholars Day campus visitation programs are among the efforts that the Office of Admissions uses to augment the University's academic programs and compete for especially outstanding students.

The Student Achievement Awards target high school students with high SAT or ACT test scores and high class rank. The awards range from the $1,000 Valedictorian Awards to Presidential Scholars and University Scholars awards, which offer full in-state tuition. The awards are offered to high school seniors who have applied for admission to Ohio University.

"The program works well for us," said Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Services Kip Howard. "Of the students who qualified for the scholarships last year, 38 percent ultimately enrolled at Ohio University, compared to a 37 percent yield for the freshman class as a whole."

The program is gaining momentum. For fall 2002, 825 accepted students qualified for the program and 312 enrolled, compared to 740 qualifiers and 287 enrolled students the previous year.

"Attracting top students is a competitive endeavor, and the University must be aggressive in its approach," Howard said. "Ohio University has quality programs that attract good students. However, quality students tend to receive top scholarship offers and we must put in an extra effort to be successful in recruiting them. It is important to remember that the scholarship programs are only an inducement. To be successful, we must already have solid academic programs in place and, fortunately, we do."

Attracting top students benefits the University in several ways. For example, they have the potential to become learning leaders both inside and outside of the classroom, adding to the active learning environment on campus.

"High-ability students are more likely to discuss and pursue material outside of the classroom and incorporate it into their lives. This type of interactive learning enhances the educational climate on campus," said Assistant Dean of the College of Communication Dee Dee Riffe. "Having especially scholarly students helps classroom discussion by raising the bar for everybody. All students are pushed to work harder and more material is covered in greater depth."

There are also more practical implications to recruiting top scholars.

"With a limited number of openings in many of our academic programs, it is important that we attract students who are serious students and who are committed to their studies. These seats are very valuable and we're doing a disservice by not attempting to attract the most qualified applicants," Riffe said. "In addition, there is a certain gratification in teaching serious students, and it makes Ohio University a more desirable place to teach, which is a factor in attracting and retaining faculty."

The Scholars Day program, held in November, attracts students and their parents to campus for a daylong look at the University with an emphasis on the strength of the academic programs offered by each college. This fall's event attracted more than 100 students, plus their parents. More than 90 percent of invited students attended the program.

The future promises an equally aggressive approach with stepped-up deadlines. "The recruiting is getting more intense for top students and we're going to increasingly get in the game earlier," Howard said. "Right now, we start communicating with these students the summer prior to their senior year in high school. We will begin targeting them during their junior year. Good students tend to take the ACT and SAT earlier and we're responding to that."

Jack Jeffery is a media specialist with University Communications and Marketing.