smc welcomes largest class in recent history nd enrolls most diverse class ever

By MEGHAN LANGE saint mary’s news e ditor

saint mary’s will welcome one of the largest classes of first-years in recent history with the class of 2027. This year the college will see an 8% increase from last year in the number of students in the first-year class, according to sarah gallagher dvorak, dean of enrollment management and marketing.

“i could probably point to a few things that helped to positively impact enrollment this year, but three were likely more significant than others,” dvorak said when asked what she thought caused the increase in enrollment.

“First, we expanded our partnerships with community-based organizations and ramped up recruitment in a number of markets across the country,” dvorak said. “second, saint mary’s is expanding our accelerated bachelor’s to master’s degree opportunities both at the college and in partnership with notre dame, some of which offer direct entry right out of high school. These are incredibly attractive to prospective students. Finally, we made some tweaks in our financial packages for students including additional funding opportunities and free books for incoming first years.”

The observer asked dvorak about her outlook for the class of 2027.

“we are incredibly excited about the class of 2027 as it’s one of the biggest, most diverse and academically talented classes we’ve had in recent history,” she said.

The class of 2027 boasts a grade point average of 3.88 on average and 26% of students are from underrepresented backgrounds or are people of color, which is a 4% increase from last year’s first-year class.

“we saw big increases across the board this year and more students applying than ever before,” dvorak said. “This

By KATHRYN MUCHNICK a ssociate news e ditor

a bout 2,060 first-year students will arrive on campus this weekend, beginning their time at notre d ame with welcome weekend festivities. The class of 2027, compiled from a pool of 28,354 applicants, was the most selective and most diverse class in notre d ame history.

The 2023 admissions rate was 11.9%, down from 12.9% in 2022 and 15% in 2021. m icki Kidder, vice president for undergraduate enrollment, said this matches trends from peer institutions.

“ w hat’s impressive yet admittedly difficult for our team is that 75% to 80% of this applicant pool is academically prepared for notre d ame.

That has been the case for a while and definitely continued to be the case with this applicant pool,” Kidder said.

The challenge, then, is to invite a class that demonstrates an authentic commitment to service and desire for a notre d ame education, Kidder said.

Kidder said her team looks to compile “a really vibrant, talented, other-centered group of scholars with a consistent commitment to the mission, see noTre ndsmcobserver.com

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