As applications soar, university plans for smaller freshman class

DANIEL DASSOW AND ABBY ANN RAMSEY Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor

UT has never been more popular, or more competitive, for first-year applicants.

In the lead-up to the first release of admissions decisions in December, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions released statistics on the first round of applications for fall 2023, painting a picture of just how rapidly UT’s applicant pool has grown in the wake of positive national publicity in fall 2022.

The office also announced that next fall’s firstyear class would be smaller than 2022’s record freshman class of 6,846 students. Though the acceptance rate in 2022 was already seven percentage points lower than in 2021, it is expected to drop again for the most competitive year of applications in the university’s history.

UT received 38,483 applications by the early action deadline of Nov. 1, a 43.2% increase representing 11,601 more early action applications than in 2021. According to the Division of Enrollment Management, the university received a total of 36,290 applications for 2022.

Of this fall’s early action applicants, 25%, or 9,609, were in-state students and 75%, or 28,874, were out-of-state or international students.

Compared to last fall, there was a 15.9% increase in in-state applications by Nov. 1 and a staggering 55.3% increase in out-of-state or international applications.

While the percentage of out-of-state applicants skyrocketed, the university plans to increase financial support and opportunities for in-state applicants.

“As Tennessee’s land grant and flagship university, UT is committed to serving the state by providing an accessible and affordable education to qualified Tennessee residents,” said Kerry Gardner, assistant director of news and information, in a statement to the Beacon. “The university stands by that commitment and is proud to offer most of our in-state applicants a pathway to enroll at UT.”

UT received 44,300 first-year applications as of Dec. 12, a 43% increase overall compared to the same time last year.

On Dec. 20, students from all 95 counties in Tennessee, all 50 states in the U.S. and 54 countries found out whether they were offered firstyear admission into the class of 2027. Some took to social media to celebrate their offers.

Early action applicants who did not receive an offer were deferred until the second round of admissions decisions in mid-February, when deferred students and those who applied by Dec. 15 and who completed their application by Jan. 6 will receive their decision. Though the university has not yet released numbers on the second round of applicants, Chancellor Plowman said on Friday that the number of total applicants was now over 48,000.

The increased popularity comes as UT leadership heralds a “university on the rise.” The success of the football program, which had its first 11-win season in nearly two decades, defeated Alabama in a home game that drew 11.5 million viewers and capped off the season with a 31-14 win over Clemson, brought international attention back to Neyland Stadium and to UT.

“We have become a destination for students seeking the Volunteer Experience,” Gardner said. “The excitement for being a Volunteer is palpable - on campus and in our application numbers.”

The growth of this year’s freshman class brought logistical issues in transportation and housing, prompting students, staff and faculty to speak out against the expansion of the student body and call for a decreased acceptance rate.

In an answer to the resounding question “why not accept fewer students?” the Office of Undergraduate Admissions said the incoming class of 2027 would bring an end to a ten-year trend of growth in the first-year class.

“To deliver the best Volunteer experience for all students across all four years and in course offerings, residential experience, and student life,

UT will reduce the size of its first-year class and enroll fewer first-year students than last fall,” the office said on its website.

“Because UT will be enrolling a smaller firstyear class, fewer students will be admitted in the first and second admissions release, with more students invited to join a waitlist following the second release.”

It is unclear yet how sharply the acceptance rate will drop for the incoming class. The unprecedented growth in the applicant pool suggests that newly competitive admissions are not the end of an era so much as the beginning of a new one for UT, as it climbs in the national imagination.