Standard Six

STUDENTS

Description

Undergraduate Admissions and Enrollment

Each fall, Boston University enrolls approximately 4,000 undergraduates in ten schools and colleges. As a selective, private, urban, research university with a strong commitment to undergraduate education, Boston University seeks to enroll students of high academic achievement who desire a challenging, hands-on curriculum; the ability to cross disciplinary boundaries; opportunities to excel in service to the community; the chance to live in and learn from a racially and ethnically diverse community; and the ability to extend their learning into the city of Boston and around the world.

These factors are reflected in Boston University’s recently adopted mission statement. They influence our student search strategies and also help to shape admissions decisions. Although Boston University consistently ranks among the top universities in terms of the number of freshman applications received, admissions personnel employ a holistic approach to each applicant’s evaluation that takes into account both cognitive factors such as grades, the rigor of the curriculum, and test scores, as well as non-cognitive factors such as leadership, motivation, and service. Approximately 60% of applications are read multiple times before a decision is rendered, and the comprehensive evaluation process is flexible enough to offer students from nontraditional (e.g., home-school) or disadvantaged backgrounds fair and equitable consideration. Boston University’s admission practices are consistent with the “Statement of Principles of Good Practice” established by the National Association of College Admission Counselors.

Even with this intensive review process and a large volume of applications, Boston University commits to making admission decisions public by April 1 and consistently meets this target. Both admission and financial aid decisions are made available to prospective students via a secure online portal, which also enables them to respond to these offers, sign up for events, and take steps towards their enrollment in September.

Although undergraduates matriculate in a specific school or college, or in a specific division or program within the school or college, the undergraduate admissions process is managed centrally by the Office of Admissions. This office makes all offers of admission to undergraduates and is also responsible for coordinating or reviewing all written materials for prospective undergraduate students. Faculty members and academic leaders from various schools and colleges are engaged in the admissions process through frequent consultation, information sharing, and participation on scholarship selection committees and standing advisory committees. This combination of central management and intensive engagement with academic departments ensures that Boston University’s admission practices are consistent with relevant federal and state laws and regulations.

Information about undergraduate admissions policies and procedures is published both in print and online. The principal recruitment publication is the Boston University Viewbook, which is revised annually and is completely re-conceptualized every four to five years. The Viewbook provides an overview of Boston University and contains information about admission requirements, application deadlines, scholarships, and financial aid deadlines. Prospective students are strongly encouraged to visit the admissions website often for a more in-depth look at BU and up-to-the-minute information. Boston University’s Equal Opportunity policy is included in all print and electronic admission materials. BU’s adherence to Equal Opportunity regulations and principles is demonstrated by the comparable figures for admission, freshman retention, and graduation when viewed by gender, race, ethnicity, and other protected classes.

Undergraduate and transfer applicants to Boston University must meet minimum requirements in order to be considered for admission. Requirements are set by admissions officers in consultation with senior leadership, and they are intended to represent the baseline level of preparation needed for successful completion of an undergraduate degree program. The requirements for freshmen applications are available online. They include: four years of English; three to four years of mathematics (precalculus/calculus recommended); three to four years of laboratory science; three to four years of history and/or social science; two to three years of a foreign language; the scores of required tests (SAT or ACT, two SAT subject tests); teacher and counselor recommendations; extracurricular activities; essay; TOEFL/IBT scores; and auditions or portfolios for students applying to the College of Fine Arts. Transfer requirements and standards vary by school and college; a complete listing may be found online.

English language proficiency standards are established by the faculty of individual schools and colleges. Undergraduate applicants whose English language proficiency falls below these standards but who are otherwise admissible are offered provisional admission contingent upon successful completion of an accredited English Language program.

The high school records of recruited student-athletes undergo careful review by senior admissions staff before coaches extend letters of commitment. All recruited student-athletes who are deemed admissible and have signed a letter of commitment then complete applications for admission or transfer. As is the case for all admitted students, recruited student-athletes must complete their intended course of study without significant deterioration of performance or disciplinary infractions. Student-athletes may be admitted to any one of Boston University’s ten undergraduate schools and colleges. BU does not have separate or segregated living or dining locations for the exclusive use of student-athletes.

Students applying to the College of Fine Arts undergo an artistic review and rating by the faculty within each division (Music, Visual Arts, Theatre). An artistic rating is used in combination with the standard academic review to determine final admission decisions for these students.

Undergraduate Financial Assistance

Financial assistance plays a critical role in Boston University’s ability to attract qualified applicants and to assist families in making an enrollment decision. The Office of Financial Assistance awards University financial aid funds to meet specific enrollment goals across the spectrum of programs and student diversity initiatives. The Office of Financial Assistance also secures external funding, both private and governmental, to increase Boston University’s affordability.

In fiscal year 2008, Boston University provided more than $171 million in financial assistance to well over half of its undergraduate students; this amount was funded primarily by the University’s operating budget, over half of which consisted of tuition revenue. Because Boston University’s endowment is small in relation to the size of both the operating budget and the student body, only a modest amount of financial aid, $4.2 million, was funded by the endowment. Despite its reliance on tuition revenue to fund undergraduate financial assistance, Boston University admits students regardless of financial need.

Boston University’s financial aid policies are designed to help meet financial need while recognizing academic merit and the potential to succeed in a demanding curriculum. The typical financial aid award includes three components: a Boston University grant, federal loans, and federal work-study. The latter two components are included in awards according to federal guidelines. Additional federal and state grants and loans are awarded based on a student’s eligibility for these programs.

Boston University offers a limited number of competitive merit scholarships, which are awarded irrespective of a student’s eligibility for need-based assistance or whether he or she applied for financial assistance. The bulk of University aid funds are awarded to students who apply and are eligible for need-based assistance. Boston University makes every effort to assist students who have calculated financial need according to federal guidelines and demonstrate high academic achievement, as measured against the credentials of other accepted students; however, the University does not have sufficient funds to offer scholarship and grant awards to every admitted student who is eligible for need-based grants. Thus, a student’s academic record is an important factor in determining eligibility for Boston University scholarships and need-based grants. Key indicators such as high school GPA, rank in class, and standardized test scores are considered, along with the strength of the high school academic program. Work and extracurricular activities are also factors in the selection process. Only Federal Direct Student Loans and Federal Perkins Loans are included in need-based financial aid awards; the University does not include credit-based, third-party loans in any of its financial assistance awards.

Boston University undergraduates who receive financial aid awards in their first year continue to receive similar awards in subsequent years, subject to published renewal criteria. Students receiving need-based awards must file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the College Board’s CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE application each year. Need-based awards are adjusted based on a family’s current circumstances. In addition, many students receive an automatic increase to their need-based award to assist with the increases in the cost of attendance. Thus, students and their families can be confident that the award they receive in the first year will not diminish unless their family finances increase substantially.

Implicit in all of these efforts is the role that the Office of Admissions and Office of Financial Assistance play in articulating both the value and the relative affordability of a Boston University education. Staff members in both offices understand their role as trusted and knowledgeable representatives of the University. Both departments aim to provide superior customer service and personal counseling to every individual student and his or her family, in spite of the very large number of students served, because they recognize that building and managing relationships is at the very core of Boston University’s business and mission.

Undergraduate Retention and Graduation, including Student Services

A variety of measures are used to monitor undergraduates’ persistence toward graduation, which in turn is used as an indicator of how well admission standards and decisions align with the requirements for successful program completion. These measures, which are both institutional and school-, college-, or program-based, include: freshman retention rates; four- and six-year graduation rates; standards for satisfactory academic progress; and academic progress rates established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. These measures are monitored for all undergraduates and many sub-populations based on gender, race/ethnicity, and sport. These data are reviewed at least annually, and special reports are available upon request.

In order to help students to achieve success in the classroom and complete their programs in a timely fashion, Boston University offers advising, academic support, and other services to undergraduate students free of charge. Many services, such as the Office of Career Services, the Educational Resource Center, and the University Service Center are offered to all students regardless of major or college and are centrally managed and funded through the Division of Student Affairs.

The following nine offices comprise the Division of Student Affairs:

• the Office of Career Services, which hosts recruitment fairs and provides advising and assistance with jobs, paid and unpaid internships, and summer placements;
• the Community Service Center, which oversees 13 student-led service programs serving more than 100 different sites and has a volunteer base of approximately 2,000 students who annually contribute 76,000 hours of service;
• the Office of Disability Services, which ensures compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and helps students with disabilities take full advantage of Boston University’s resources and opportunities;
• the Educational Resource Center, which provides academic support for all undergraduates through workshops, peer tutoring, writing assistance, foreign language conversation groups, and academic adjustment programs for first-year students;
• the Student Activities Office, which organizes programs and activities including concerts, movies, and visiting speakers for the Boston University community;
• the Howard Thurman Center for Race, Ethnicity, and Culture, which offers a range of multicultural and community-building programs, activities, services, and resources;
• the Office of Judicial Affairs, which handles infractions of the Code of Student Responsibilities;
• the Office of Orientation, which coordinates orientation sessions for incoming students and parents prior to the start of the semester; and
• the Office of Residence Life, which serves a residential community of 11,000 students, faculty, and staff living in more than 150 residence halls.

The Division of Student Affairs also works closely with student government and more than 500 student-led clubs and organizations, as well as with the Boston University Police Department, a full-service police department providing 24-hour patrol coverage, investigative services, and crime prevention strategies. Undergraduates’ immediate and ongoing health care needs are provided by the Office of Student Health Services; graduate students may elect to purchase health care and insurance through the University as well. Crisis intervention counseling and other forms of behavioral medicine are also available on campus.

Additional student services, such as faculty advising, writing centers, computing centers, first-year programs, and peer advising are offered at the school, college, or program level and are tailored to the needs of specific populations. For example, the College of Engineering requires all freshmen to take a Freshman Advising Seminar. Students in the College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) receive comprehensive advising services—whether they want to double major or they are unsure of their interests—from the faculty and professional staff in the Dean Ralph W. Traylor Academic Advising Center, as well as from department-based advisors. CAS also has a successful pre-professional advising center with special focus on pre-medicine and pre-law students. Supplemental writing instruction and tutoring is available through the CAS Writing Center and the College of Communication Writing Center. Boston University offers pre-professional advising for students who intend to continue their education in Law or Medicine. In addition to the advice and guidance provided by faculty and professional advising staff, students also have the option (or requirement) of receiving additional support from peer mentors.

Student retention policy is promulgated via several policies pertaining to a student’s standing at Boston University. These policies are published online in the Boston University Lifebook. These policies also address academic conduct and avenues available to students to appeal findings or sanctions.

Approximately 525 students participate in Division I varsity athletics through Boston University’s nine men’s and 12 women’s programs. These student-athletes are fully integrated into the BU community through their classroom, living, and dining experiences. The Boston University Department of Athletics provides academic support and life skills programming for all student-athletes through its Academic Support Center. The center manages mandatory Study Hall and offers free tutoring services, as well as workshops, career counseling, drug and alcohol education, and nutrition counseling. Student-athletes also take advantage of services offered through Boston University’s Educational Resource Center and Office of Career Services, which are available to all students and whose staffs collaborate with the staff of the Academic Support Center.

Although Boston University recruits and enrolls students from all 50 U.S. states and from around the world, the University maintains a strong connection with and commitment to students in the greater Boston area. Each year since 1980, Boston University has offered 58 full-tuition scholarships to qualified applicants from the Boston Public High School (BPHS) system. Recipients of the Boston University Boston High School Scholarship attend a one-week summer orientation session, which includes an off-site component specifically for BPHS Scholars and concludes with their joining a regular University Orientation session. Scholars are offered academic and co-curricular support and mentoring through the BU/Boston Schools Collaborative Office. Recent changes to the Boston Scholars program, which were designed to increase access, are discussed in the Projection subsection. In addition, BU offers 12 full-tuition scholarships to graduates of Catholic schools within the Archdiocese of Boston.

In June 2007, Boston University entered into a partnership with the Posse Foundation and enrolled its first class of 12 Posse Scholars, all graduates of the Atlanta Public Schools, in the fall 2008 semester. Posse Scholars complete a 32-week college transition program before matriculating and are assigned a dedicated faculty mentor for their first two years at BU.

Admission to Boston University is selective and competitive. As a result, BU does not offer remedial courses through its degree-granting academic programs. During University Orientation in the summer before matriculation, all first-year students take the Boston University Writing Assessment (BUWA), and most take math and foreign language placement tests as well. These assessments help students and their advisers select the right courses for the fall semester. International students whose English language proficiency does not meet Boston University standards but who are otherwise admissible are offered the opportunity to enroll in an accredited, intensive English language course through the Center for English Language & Orientation Programs (CELOP). After successfully completing a CELOP program and meeting English language proficiency standards, students may be offered full admission to Boston University.

Graduate Admissions, Enrollment, and Student Services

The nature of graduate education is fundamentally different from that of undergraduate education. Requirements for undergraduates are designed to ensure a liberal and well-rounded education; graduate students, by contrast, pursue a very focused objective of advanced scholarship and training in a particular discipline. As a result, graduate admissions and enrollment functions are handled by the individual schools and colleges offering graduate degrees, which are better able to address the specific concerns of prospective and enrolled graduate students. As of December 2008, Boston University had approximately 13,000 graduate students enrolled in 15 schools and colleges.

The largest academic unit offering advanced degrees is the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (GRS).* Twenty-three departments and ten interdepartmental graduate programs provide advanced education leading to more than 70 different degrees.** Eighteen programs of study are terminal master’s programs, leading to an MA degree (or, for students in Creative Writing, an MFA). Terminal master’s programs are designed to meet specific professional training needs, and students who enroll in these programs typically do not continue on to more advanced study. The remainder of programs lead to the PhD.

The Graduate School of Arts & Sciences receives approximately 6,800 applications each year. Annually, around 260 new students are enrolled in terminal master’s programs and 250 new students in MA/PhD or PhD programs. There are currently 2,070 students in GRS, with roughly a quarter in terminal master’s programs and the rest working toward a doctoral degree. The following chart shows the population history for GRS students by divisions—humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences—and in total over the past decade.

Given the diverse areas of study pursued in GRS, the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences sets a small number of general requirements while leaving departments sufficient flexibility to accommodate discipline-specific needs. All doctoral programs require students to pass a comprehensive exam in their field before proceeding to the dissertation phase; some have additional qualifying exams. In the sciences, exams generally fall in the first two years and constitute a major hurdle and attrition point in the pursuit of graduate studies. Comprehensive exams tend to come somewhat later in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Students entering the dissertation phase of doctoral work must submit a prospectus that describes their proposed project in detail. Departmental faculty with relevant expertise provide constructive criticism and feedback at this crucial initial phase.

Students in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences are allowed a set period of time within which to complete degree requirements: three years for the master’s, five years for the post-master’s PhD, and seven years for the post-bachelor’s PhD. Students who need additional time must petition annually for an extension; the petition process is designed to encourage discussion and understanding by student and faculty members on the status of the student’s work and the expectations for progress during the next year.

Graduate student retention and time-to-degree are dependent on a number of discipline-specific factors (e.g., fieldwork, experimentation, or internships) as well as practical factors, such as the availability of financial aid, which affect students’ ability to pursue graduate studies full time. A doctoral candidate in biology, for instance, might take an initial experimental approach that does not pan out; while an anthropology student may need to spend several years living among pastoralists and collecting ethnographic data. In the sciences, the typical post-bachelor’s doctoral program begins with approximately two years of coursework. Students are often able to embark on research while still completing courses, and directed study or directed research courses may constitute a majority of the 64 credits required for the post-bachelor’s PhD. In the humanities and social sciences, students take few directed research courses and consequently tend to start their dissertation work later. Retention and time-to-degree are also dependent on the availability of graduate financial aid, which is discussed in the Appraisal subsection.

With respect to professional study at the graduate level, admissions and enrollment are likewise handled by individual academic units. The College of Engineering (ENG) receives approximately 1,700 applications each year for their PhD, MS, MEng, and BS/MS programs, and enrolls between 165 and 185 new graduate students annually. In addition, ENG offers two interdepartmental programs—one each with the School of Medicine and School of Management—as well as the Late Entry Accelerated Program (LEAP), for mid-career professionals wishing to enter the field of engineering. LEAP graduates earn an MS or MEng degree.

Boston University’s strategic plan identified four key professional schools: the School of Medicine, School of Management, School of Law, and College of Fine Arts. The graduate division of the School of Medicine, the Division of Graduate Medical Sciences, currently offers 15 degree programs leading to the MA, MS, PhD, or MD/PhD. Doctoral programs are based in the traditional basic sciences, administered by a clinical department, or interdisciplinary in nature. In addition, there are nine professional MA or MS degree programs designed to prepare students for medical or dental school acceptance, or to prepare them to enter the workforce upon completion. The Division of Graduate Medical Sciences received 539 applications for doctoral programs for the entering class of fall 2008; 84 students, or 15.67% of applicants, were accepted, yielding an entering PhD class of 40 students. Approximately 925 applications were received for the MA/MS programs, of which 539 students (58.7%) were accepted, yielding an incoming class of 288.

The Graduate School of Management (GSM)—which is, like the School of Medicine, one of the four key professional schools identified in Boston University’s strategic plan, along with the School of Law and College of Fine Arts—offers MBA, MSIM, and DBA degrees, as well as dual degrees including MS/MBA, MA/MBA, and JD/MBA. The number of applications to the MBA program increased by 130% over the past four years, allowing the Graduate School to improve selectivity from 57% in 2004 to 28% in 2008. Average GMAT scores for the most recent incoming class are the highest on record, with other quality indicators—such as GPA and work experience—also rising in recent years, as seen in the charts below. The number of applications to the Master of Science in Investment Management (MSIM), MS/MBA, and Doctor of Business Administration programs has also increased in recent years, along with the quality of the student body. Seven students graduated from the DBA program in AY 2007–08 and six new students entered the program, for an overall enrollment of 42 doctoral students.

The School of Law receives approximately 6,000 applications annually for the JD program, which targets an entering class of 265 students each year. In addition to the JD program, the law school offers four LLM (Master of Laws) degree programs in the following areas: Banking and Financial Law, Taxation, Intellectual Property, and American Law (for non-U.S. lawyers). Combined, the LLM programs receive approximately 850 applications each year and together enroll roughly 200 new full and part-time students (equaling about 170 FTEs) each academic year.

The College of Fine Arts—another one of the four key professional schools identified in Boston University’s strategic plan—receives approximately 1,100 graduate applications annually and enrolls roughly 160 new students each year, with a total current enrollment of 1,043. The great majority of these graduate students are enrolled in the School of Music (919), which offers programs at both the master’s and doctoral levels. Fully two-thirds of graduate students in the School of Music are enrolled in online degree programs in Music Education at the master’s and doctoral levels. Many of these 602 online students are experienced music educators, while a majority of the 317 on-campus students are enrolled in performance programs. The School of Theatre has approximately 40 students in MFA programs. The School of Visual Arts, which currently enrolls 84 MFA students, plans to offer an online version of their master’s in art education—which will be changed from an MFA to an MA, in keeping with the program’s academic emphasis, and will be modeled on the successful online programs in Music Education. Admissions are selective: for the College of Fine Arts as a whole, selectivity was 30.98% for the class entering 2008 and yield was 44.05%. Applicants are evaluated on academic credentials, as well as an audition or portfolio review.

Co-curricular activities for graduate students are likewise organized on a school or college basis. The Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the College of Engineering both have formal organizations for their graduate students—the Graduate Student Organization (GSO) and Student Association of Graduate Engineers (SAGE), respectively. These groups were established in order to encourage a greater sense of community and more social interaction among graduate students within their school or college; to provide opportunities for discussion and professional training; and to represent their interests and concerns to administrators. The Graduate Student Organization offers survival guides for new graduate students with information about housing and health care, sponsors social and academic events, and provides travel grants to students in eligible departments, while SAGE sponsors a Technology Entrepreneurship Night in collaboration with the Institute of Technology Entrepreneurship & Commercialization. In the School of Law and College of Fine Arts, similar events are hosted by offices devoted to student affairs.

Career advising is, in many instances, provided at the departmental or programmatic level. The widely varying needs, practices, and cultures of the disciplines of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences mean that departments and programs are responsible for student advising and career development mentoring. The same is true for the Division of Graduate Medical Sciences. Within the College of Fine Arts, career advising and development is handled by individual schools (Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts); the School of Music posts job listings online and also holds career advising sessions for students. The School of Law combines advising through individual programs—for students working toward LLM degrees, each of which has a dedicated Career Advisor—with a centralized Career Development Office, which is administered by full- and part-time professional staff, all of whom hold law degrees and have diverse professional experience. The Feld Career Center offers a wide range of career advising and placement services for undergraduate and graduate students in the School of Management. In 2008, students at the MBA level enjoyed an 87% employment rate at the time of graduation (up from 79% at graduation the previous year). More than 95% of MBA graduates secure job offers within three months of graduation. The Graduate School of Management has also made a significant effort to boost the number of companies recruiting and interviewing on the Boston University campus, as shown in the following table.

Appraisal

Undergraduate Admissions and Enrollment

Internal admission guidelines are reviewed each year. In early winter, the Vice President for Enrollment and Student Affairs, the Executive Director of Admissions, and the Executive Director of Financial Assistance meet with each academic dean and his or her senior staff to discuss enrollment targets and financial aid strategies, as well as to receive feedback on how the current freshman class is doing. Through this mechanism and by means of informal feedback from schools and colleges and special programs, admissions and financial aid staff members are able to fine-tune selection criteria that go beyond minimum requirements and home in on particular qualities—whether academic or co-curricular—that best ensure the success of students in particular programs.

Boston University has seen extraordinary growth in its applicant pool. Applications increased 29% from 29,356 in 2003 to 38,010 in 2008. Applications from African American students increased 57% from 1,289 in 2003 to 2,024 in 2008. Applications from Hispanic/Latino students increased 58% from 1,905 in 2003 to 3,004 in 2008. Applications from international students increased 81% from 2,106 in 2003 to 3,810 in 2008. Applications from the states of California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York accounted for 15% of the total increase and represented 55% of the applicant pool in 2008. This percentage is approximately the same as that in 2003 (57%).

The composite critical reading and math SAT for admitted students increased nine points from 1300 in 2003 to 1309 in 2008. Yet the composite SAT for enrolled students is approximately the same for the freshman class of 2008 (1268) as it was for the class enrolling in 2003 (1269), despite reaching a high in fall 2005 (1278). These results are consistent with national SAT data, which show a slight downward trend over this period, and with our goal of maintaining student quality while decreasing the tuition discount rate for freshmen (see below).

The increases achieved in applications received and in the quality and diversity of the admitted class contrast to a fairly steady yield rate over a comparable period of time. Between 2003 and 2008, the overall freshman yield ranged from a high of 23.6% for the class entering in fall 2005 to a low of 20.1% for the class entering in fall 2008, and averaged 22% over those five years. This fairly steady overall yield and constant quality indicators were achieved despite an intentional strategy to lower the tuition discount rate. Between 2003 and 2008, the tuition discount ranged from a high of 35.3% in 2003 to a low of 26.8% in 2007. The results achieved—increasing applications, increasing quality, decreasing discount rate, and steady yield—are consistent with Boston University’s desire to maintain academic quality, improve the academic and co-curricular student experience, and focus more attention on need-based financial assistance.

Undergraduate Financial Assistance

The Office of Financial Assistance and the Office of Admissions publish several brochures that explain need-based grant, loan, and scholarship opportunities. Information about these programs is also provided online. The table below provides an example of the manner in which Boston University aims to provide sound guidance regarding general eligibility for financial assistance without making commitments regarding individual eligibility:

As indicated in this table, eligibility for University awards corresponds with academic achievement. In addition, although University awards are made across income groups, the majority of funds awarded are based on financial need. For example, for the class entering in Fall 2008, only 18.8% of University funds awarded to freshmen were based solely on merit; the remaining 81.2% were awarded based on eligibility for need-based assistance within a merit framework. This represents a deliberate shift from aid distribution in previous years, which was typically 70–75% need-based and 25–30% merit-based aid, and is the result of a deliberate strategy to reduce full-tuition merit scholarships and to redirect those funds into need-based assistance.

Although financial aid strategies change each year in order to align with budget targets and yield goals, two major shifts have influenced overall strategies: reducing the freshman tuition discount rate and reallocating merit aid to increase need-based assistance. These strategies were put into place beginning with the class that entered in fall 2006. In addition, the enrollment strategies team has brought individual school and college aid strategies into alignment with one another, greatly decreasing the variance among them. These results were achieved while holding the academic quality of the entering class steady. The savings generated from these strategies have been used to fund elements of the strategic plan associated with undergraduate education.

Boston University uses key front-end measures including various assessments of admit-to-enroll yield and the percentage of calculated need met by University funds to evaluate its financial aid strategies. Other important measures include persistence and graduation rates of students receiving financial assistance, student debt upon graduation, and loan default rates. Current data suggest that Boston University’s policies are effective and reasonable. For example, students receiving need-based assistance graduate at rates equivalent to those who do not receive such assistance; undergraduates who graduated in 2007 had an average debt of approximately $24,000; and the latest official cohort default rate for Federal Direct Stafford student loans was 0.6% on a base of 4,761 borrowers who entered repayment in 2005. In addition, the yield on students receiving financial assistance is higher than the non-aided student yield.

Undergraduate Retention and Graduation, including Student Services

Since Boston University’s last NEASC self-study, the freshman retention rate improved from 86.2% (fall 1997 cohort) to 90.8% (fall 2006 cohort), and the six-year graduation rate improved from 68.5% (fall 1992 cohort) to 81.6% (fall 2001 cohort). These improvements correspond with an increase in the quality of matriculating freshmen and with more students living on campus in much-improved environments. They can also be attributed to investments in academic advising, greater student-faculty contact, and greater focus on building community on campus. Some examples follow below:

• Indicators of student quality show that the average SAT (combined critical reading and math scores) increased by 48 points, the average high school GPA went from 3.34 to 3.58, and selectivity moved from 78% to 54% from the fall 1998 cohort to the fall 2008 cohort. Consistent with our goals, these quality indicators remained constant over recent years in which the tuition discount rate was reduced.
• The John Hancock Student Village encompasses the 817-bed Student Village I residence hall, Agganis Arena, and the Fitness & Recreation Center. When the 960-bed “Student Village II” opens in fall 2009 on an adjacent site, BU will have the capacity to house 80% of its undergraduate student population requiring housing on campus.
• The professional schools and colleges developed peer advising and freshman seminar programs, which ease the transition to Boston University academics while keeping upper class students engaged in their respective school or college communities. The Educational Resource Center manages a peer-advising program for College of Arts & Sciences students.
• The number and quality of on-campus events have increased, especially in the last five years. Student attendance at these events is at an all-time high. Places such as BU Central cater to smaller crowds, while Nickerson Field, the “BU Beach,” and Metcalf Ballroom in the George Sherman Union routinely host movie nights and baseball and football playoff games. More than 6,000 people attended the men’s opening soccer game on August 30, 2008, which set conference and national records for attendance at a collegiate soccer game.

Students who receive a need-based grant as part of their financial aid award must complete 12 or more credits each semester within an academic year with a minimum GPA of 2.30 in order for their aid award to be renewed for the following year. Those who do not meet these criteria may be awarded a Contingent Aid Grant (CAG) for one semester. Contingent grant recipients must meet the renewal criteria, live on campus, and participate in a mandatory academic support program—which brings together academic support professionals and CAG students in small-group settings and for one-on-one mentoring and counseling—in order to have their grant renewed for a subsequent semester. The program has undergone substantial revision in recent years, involving more mentors and incorporating more and different learning strategies. In general, about two-thirds of CAG recipients successfully meet these criteria and are eligible to have their awards reinstated.

The Division of Student Affairs is taking a lead role in strengthening the student residential community and the student experience. Student Affairs actively solicits feedback from students about programmatic offerings and service delivery by means of focus groups with students and staff, comment cards, surveys, and questionnaires, and by inviting student representatives to serve on university committees. The Office of Residence Life also administers the Association of College and University Housing Officers–International (ACUHO–I) Survey to students living in Boston University housing. Input from these sources is used to appropriately allocate funding and the use of facilities and other resources among an ever-growing number of student groups; to guide changes to service delivery; and to establish or realign programs to meet new or unmet needs. As the responsibilities of the Division of Student Affairs increase, the division reassigned and retrained staff members in order to adequately staff each department. Staff members also take advantage of professional training opportunities by participating in conferences, workshops, and discussion sections to stay informed about students’ needs.

Graduate Admissions and Enrollment, Retention and Graduation, Student Services

Among the graduate schools and colleges at Boston University, departments and the central administration use a variety of quantitative and qualitative measures to monitor the quality, stature, and effectiveness of graduate programs. Some of these measures assess the quality and stature of faculty (e.g., publications, citations, grant funding levels); others are statistical measures of the competitive standing and successfulness of individual programs (e.g., number of applications, admission and matriculation ratios, attrition rates and time to degree, and program population histories).

Within the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (GRS), departments and interdepartmental graduate programs must include outcomes and placement information for new and recent graduates of their doctoral programs in their annual report to the dean. Departments are encouraged to hold exit interviews with graduating students and with students who are departing without a degree, to gather individual perspectives on the graduate experience. Feedback about graduate programs is also gathered through regular meetings between the dean and associate dean and the Graduate Student Organization, the representative body of GRS students. In past years, the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences conducted graduate program reviews on an as-needed basis, either when concerns arose about the effectiveness of a program or when a program or department identified new initiatives or opportunities that it wished to develop. This year, pursuant to the development of an institutional strategic planning process and motivated also by the desire to continue the benefits of the National Research Council’s project to evaluate research doctoral programs, the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences is instituting a regular process of reviewing and evaluating graduate programs. The school’s Committee on Graduate Academic Standards and Conduct has prepared guidelines for these reviews; the guidelines will be presented to the faculty in spring 2009 for approval, with the review process expected to begin in the fall 2009 semester.

The School of Law continually assesses the academic program and the overall educational experience for students in the JD and LLM degree programs. Committees comprised of law school faculty and administrators review the curriculum and academic regulations on a continuous basis to ensure that the school meets current standards for accreditation. In addition to course evaluations, students are surveyed repeatedly by various departments regarding their experience at the law school. Student services and programming are influenced by the information gathered in these surveys and by informal focus groups held with diverse groups of students. Additional feedback is gathered through an active student government association. An important measure of the success and quality of the effectiveness of the law school’s graduate programs is the rate at which students pass licensure examinations. This past year, first-time test takers (generally recent graduates) had a 97% bar passage rate, an exceptionally good result. Additionally, 97% of the 2007 graduating JD class was employed within nine months of graduation—another measure of the overall success of the academic program. This information is reported each year to the law school’s accrediting organization, the American Bar Association Section on Legal Education. The law school is consistently rated within the top 25 law schools in the United States.

The availability and amount of graduate financial aid naturally affects graduate students’ recruitment, retention, and time to degree. Financial aid varies among, and within, academic units. In the College of Fine Arts, for instance, nearly all graduate students in the School of Theatre and Opera Institute are fully funded and receive stipends; most students in the School of Visual Arts and School of Music receive some aid, though the more limited aid tends to hamper recruitment efforts, particularly in the School of Music.

Students in professional master’s degree programs in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences typically receive little financial aid, as the duration of their programs is short enough that a combination of savings, loans, and part-time work can generally suffice to cover costs. For students in doctoral programs, the extended period of necessarily full-time graduate study makes those sources of funds less feasible. Accordingly, most doctoral programs at Boston University must provide a relatively high level of financial aid in order to be competitive with peer institutions in attracting the best students. The primary forms of aid for students in their first or second years are Teaching Assistantships or University-funded fellowships; these include a full-tuition scholarship as well as stipend support. For students supported on research grants on the Charles River Campus, the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences administers the Graduate Research Assistant Scholarship Program (GRASP), which covers their tuition needs. Through these mechanisms, most doctoral students receive tuition awards to cover most of their tuition costs.

The Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the College of Engineering coordinate to set standard stipend levels for Teaching Fellows and Research Assistants. The standard stipends for the 2008–09 academic year, which are paid out in four monthly installments each semester, are $17,500 for students in the humanities and social sciences and $18,200 for students in the natural sciences, computational sciences, and mathematics. These stipends are comparable to those offered by some peer institutions and lag behind others; cost of living variations make comparisons difficult. Boston University’s estimate of the cost of living for an off-campus single graduate student is $19,035 for the nine-month academic year (AY) 2008–09; after taxes of approximately 15%, current stipends cover 78% to 81% of AY living costs.

Summer funding is not readily available except for students funded by research grants; research assistant summer pay typically consists of four monthly payments equal to the academic year installments. Departments may choose to allow Principal Investigators to increase research assistant salaries by 5% over standard levels after passing comprehensive exams and by 10% after defending the dissertation prospectus. These added funds bring income to a livable level for grant-funded students, but for many students in the humanities and social sciences the financial challenges of graduate study are daunting. Of the approximately 1,500 doctoral students in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, approximately 500 students receive University-funded AY stipends (approximately 425 are Teaching Fellows; the rest hold University fellowships of several varieties) and about 440 students are grant-funded Research Assistants. Approximately two-thirds of students in GRS doctoral programs have some stipend funding, with a larger proportion of these students in the Natural Sciences and a lower proportion in the Humanities and Social Sciences.

Given the very diverse areas of study pursued in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, and the varying levels of financial aid available to departments, it is difficult to characterize concisely the retention, attrition, and time-to-degree rates for GRS students. Representative data is provided below, in a table analyzing the admission and attrition rates of doctoral students in some of the larger doctoral programs in GRS, and a chart showing the number of years of graduate study for the most recent cohort of students receiving doctoral degrees.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts stipulates that students at 75% time or more must have health coverage. In the past, health insurance for graduate students was a challenge in terms both of cost and of coverage. Beginning with the 2003–04 academic year, the standard financial aid package for Teaching Fellows and Research Assistants has included payment of the graduate student’s individual participation in Boston University’s student health plan. Provision of health coverage is a significant benefit to graduate students and an important competitive element in the University’s financial aid practices. This coverage is managed through a fringe benefit plan: a charge of 7.8% of stipend dollars is assessed to the source of the student’s stipend, so that BU pays the costs for Teaching Fellows (TFs), and research grants pay the costs for Research Assistants (RAs). Boston University has improved the coverage of the student health plan over the years, as Commonwealth requirements have evolved and in response to the needs of our student community. Recognizing the different coverage needs of the graduate student population, the University instituted a two-level medical plan in AY 2008–09: the lower-coverage Complete Plan, costing $1,466, is provided to TFs and RAs; the higher-coverage Plus Plan ($1,988) is available to students who wish to pay the cost differential. Some graduate schools are currently exploring the cost implications of providing the Plus Plan for all TFs and RAs.

Projection

Undergraduate Admissions

In order to address the projected demographic changes among high school graduates and to meet the goals of Boston University’s strategic plan, the Enrollment and Student Affairs Division developed a five-year enrollment plan. During the period of growth in high school graduates that is nearing its end, Boston University put into place strategies that helped to improve the academic profile of incoming students, as well as to develop and strengthen key markets. As a result, the geographic distribution of BU’s undergraduate student body—both domestic and international—has, like the larger competitive landscape, changed markedly in the last ten years.

The new five-year enrollment plan covers the period between 2008 and 2013, when the number of domestic high school graduates is projected to decline overall. The plan calls for Boston University to sustain its strong position in growth states such as Texas and Florida (both of which are among the top ten states for applications and freshman enrollment) and in Southern California (California ranks among the top five states); to increase its commitment to New England, New York, and New Jersey, states which show overall declines in high school graduates through 2013 but which are home to a significant proportion of BU’s current undergraduate student body; to regain its standing among the top five universities for international enrollment; and to stabilize the tuition discount rate at a rate that is sustainable both financially and philosophically. The enrollment plan has been reviewed by Boston University’s leadership, including the academic deans, and was discussed by the Board of Trustees at a retreat in April 2008. Implementation planning is under way.

Because more students are using the Internet during their college search process, the Office of Admissions website was completely redesigned in 2008. The recently launched site contains more dynamic multimedia pieces, interactive sections, and a next-generation content-management and calendar/reservation system. The goal is for prospective applicants to envision themselves as BU students, to revisit the admissions site and other BU communications often, and to come see the campus in person.

For the class entering in fall 2008, Boston University received a record 38,006 applications. This represents an 11% increase over the previous year and a 29.5% increase over fall 2003. In an effort to continue to manage this volume of applications in a timely and professional manner, the Office of Admissions is implementing a paperless admissions workflow, which will be in beta-testing for the transfer admission process for fall 2008 and will be fully operational for the fall 2009 freshman class. Admissions personnel anticipate savings and efficiencies in application processing, as well as a more flexible work environment for application readers and decision-makers. The Office of Admissions also anticipates adding staff members in order to implement the recruiting elements of the five-year plan, and to reduce the reading workload on existing staff.

Boston University’s institutional goals include a strong commitment to access, which means identifying and enrolling both students who exceed our enrollment standards and students whose secondary education or financial means may limit their post-secondary opportunities. The University’s historic commitment to Boston Public High Schools and our recent partnership with the Posse Foundation are consistent with this goal. Boston University is also committed to providing adequate support for students from disadvantaged backgrounds once they have enrolled in order to ensure their smooth transition to college-level coursework and successful completion of degree requirements.

Boston University’s willingness to further increase access to qualified graduates of the Boston Public High School (BPHS) system can be seen in the recent decision to expand the Boston Scholars program by including a need-based component. Under the terms of the new agreement, Boston University will fund between 20 and 25 full-tuition merit scholarships (many of the 58 merit-based scholarships offered under the old arrangement went unused each year) and will also meet the full calculated need without loans for all admitted BPHS students who apply and are eligible for need-based assistance. The Office of Admissions will also work with BU schools and colleges and with the Boston Public Schools to improve college awareness and readiness programs so that students understand what it takes to be admitted to a selective university and are aware of the important choices they face during their high school years. These activities will complement Boston University’s other K–12 initiatives, such as Step UP, College Opportunity and Career Help (COACH), the Boston University Initiative for Literacy Development (BUILD), and Upward Bound by focusing on the critical transition to high school in the ninth and tenth grades.

Boston University also intends to solidify the gains made in student quality over the last decade through a reconfiguration of its undergraduate academic programs. Of note are proposals for the development of a new University-wide honors program ; the reinvigoration of the College of Arts & Sciences Core Curriculum and School of Management Honors Program; new and unique undergraduate majors in neuroscience (drawing on faculty and programs in the College of Arts & Sciences, College of Engineering, and School of Medicine) and health sciences (College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College); further investment in study abroad and internship opportunities for all students; creation of more undergraduate research and scholarship opportunities; and, in general, strengthening and simplifying the linkages between the liberal arts and sciences and professional education.

The last of these initiatives, in particular, plays to Boston University’s strength—the rich diversity of undergraduate and graduate programs. Like students at many selective universities, BU undergraduates arrive on campus with tremendous ambition and often with credits that allow them to broaden and deepen their education early in their academic careers. Yet many of them find it difficult to navigate the maze of requirements in order to take advantage of all that BU has to offer, or to seek appropriate and timely advice about their options when their interests span several disciplines or colleges. In the summer of 2006, the University Provost and the Vice President for Enrollment and Student Affairs commissioned a report on institutional barriers to undergraduate education. The committee took up a cause identified through the University’s strategic planning process—the bureaucracy surrounding an undergraduate education—and laid the groundwork for improving access to courses and degrees. Small changes, such as improving coordination of academic calendars across colleges, have been made; however, the bulk of the implementation (e.g., integrating the undergraduate curricula, optimizing intra-University transfers) will be undertaken by the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education and the “One BU” Task Force, which was convened in the Fall 2008 semester. By helping students maximize their educational opportunities, Boston University hopes to attract more of the best and brightest students, to further improve retention and graduation rates, and to increase student satisfaction.

Undergraduate Financial Assistance

For the 2008–09 academic year, the student expense budget used by the Office of Financial Assistance to make aid awards exceeded $51,000. Recent concerns about the economy, job security, loan-reduction and loan-elimination programs at competitor universities, and the availability of educational loans—coupled with the desire to maintain a reasonable tuition discount rate—means that Boston University must redouble its efforts to ensure that a BU education remains within reach for talented students. This will involve continual monitoring and adjustment of our financial aid strategies, as well as the raising of private funds to offset the financial aid budget. Fundraising for financial assistance is being addressed through planning for a capital campaign. Boston University must also find additional and more effective ways to communicate with students and families about their eligibility for financial assistance and the value of a BU degree. To this end, the Office of Admissions is currently putting together a revitalized communication plan for financial assistance in keeping with the Five-Year Enrollment Plan.

As a longstanding participant in the Federal Direct Lending Program, Boston University has been sheltered to some extent from the recent upheaval in the education loan market. Before fall 2008, approximately 70% of the loan volume processed through the Office of Financial Assistance was from the Direct Lending Program (e.g., subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford Loans). The remaining 30% of the loan volume came from credit-based educational loans that are certified by BU. In fall 2008, this ratio shifted to 83% Direct Lending and 16% private credit-based loans, in large part due to the large increase in PLUS loan applications.

In 2008, as lenders tightened lending criteria and had difficulty funding their credit-based programs, students and parents had fewer options to choose from. Boston University took several steps to ensure that incoming and continuing students had the information they needed. Aid officers traveled to off-campus spring yield events in order to provide better service to families. The Offices of Admissions and Financial Aid shifted their communications strategy to focus more on education and decision-making, and also informed students about changes in lenders’ status via the Office of Financial Assistance website and the daily electronic newspaper BU Today. In addition, a request-for-information process was instituted to identify lender products that may be of interest to students and families without prescribing or limiting their choice of a loan provider. Through this process, Boston University achieved much greater consistency in presenting information about student loans across all sectors, to undergraduate, graduate, professional, and non-degree students on both campuses.

Undergraduate Retention and Graduation

As noted above, the increases in freshman retention and graduation rates over the past decade may be attributed to a combination of improving academic quality within the student body and improving the quality of the experience that students have while at BU. With indicators of academic quality essentially flat over the last few years and with the projected decrease in key sectors of high school graduates in the next five years, retention efforts must increasingly focus on continuing to strengthen and enhance the student experience. Recent efforts in this area include outreach and programming for first-generation and at-risk populations, more frequent inclusion of students on University committees, and increased use of Web-based student services in areas such as student accounts, registration, and student employment.

Four important discussions related to the goal of improving the student experience are now under way. The first—a “One BU” Task Force charged with ensuring that all students can take full advantage of the breadth and depth of BU’s academic programs—was mentioned above.

The second is a First-Year Experience Task Force in the College of Arts & Sciences (CAS). As the largest and most complex of Boston University’s ten undergraduate units, CAS is taking the lead in examining the first year comprehensively, including the framework of academic, co-curricular, and advising opportunities and experiences. The task force is also examining how the College of Arts & Sciences embeds good principles of student development throughout these experiences, in order to help students make the best possible transition from high school, become well integrated and engaged in Boston University, and lay a foundation for success throughout their undergraduate careers and beyond. The First-Year Experience Task Force is engaging faculty, staff, and students in an evaluation of best practices and the design of a BU-specific program that will follow students from the time they accept an offer of admission through the summer between the freshman and sophomore years.

Third, Boston University is exploring ways to provide better service to students in our transactional departments, such as providing “one-stop” service options, moving more services to the Web so that on-site staff can focus on more complicated issues, and cross-training front-line staff. The University Service Center, which was established in 2000 to handle complex student issues that cross departmental and academic boundaries, serves as a successful model for how we might streamline the “business” of being a BU student.

Finally, Boston University is embarking upon substantial investments in career services and academic support. Following a 12-month evaluation of existing services and discussion of recommended improvements with leadership including the Student Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees, the University is poised to implement an integrated approach to career and academic development, one that not only provides specific services but also offers in-depth counseling and coaching. The overall goals of the project are to ensure that students and potential employers can find each other easily and efficiently; to prepare students for a job market in which they might change careers two or three times; and to provide seamless career development guidance and academic support to all students. Plans are under way for the construction of a new student services building, which will house the reinvigorated Office of Career Services. A national search for a director of career development is also planned.

Other plans for enhancing the student experience at Boston University include: redefining the role of faculty-in-residence and housing programs; expanding the number and type of opportunities for engagement in community service and service learning; developing more effective and efficient peer-tutoring programs through collaborations between the Educational Resource Center and faculty members in a number of departments, particularly those in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math); and harnessing the popularity of social networking sites to increase a sense of community among BU students. The Division of Student Affairs has also planned a number of specific improvements such as the establishment of a records retention policy for campus disciplinary matters and the upgrading of systems and databases more generally; a thorough review and evaluation of housing, services, and other resources for graduate students; and the use of formal assessment tools and analysis to supplement the anecdotal and subjective feedback now gathered from student surveys.

All of these initiatives are part of a wider, concerted effort to enhance students’ academic and curricular experience at Boston University, to encourage and enable more students to complete their degrees here, and to create a network of enthusiastic, engaged alumni.

Graduate Admissions and Enrollment, Retention and Graduation, Student Services

Indicators for programs in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences have been stable for the past six years, as evidenced by, for example, the headcounts of registered students in the various divisional areas. The largest changes have been in the Department of Economics, which deliberately expanded its master’s and doctoral programs, and in Biology, where the challenging funding environment has led to a modest retrenchment in the size of the graduate program. The number of doctoral students in the humanities has declined by a few percentage points, and the number in the social sciences has risen by a few percentage points, but overall enrollments have remained more or less consistent. International applications and admissions dropped for several years after 2001, but now have recovered and even exceeded pre-2001 levels. Indeed, international students have accounted for slightly more than one-third of total applications and of incoming students for the past few years. Individual departments and programs continue to maintain and revise their curricula and to advance their research programs and scholarly interests; the aggregate outcome has been a fairly constant environment for graduate education and research. At the School of Law, there is every indication that both the JD and LLM programs will continue to enroll classes of exceptionally well-qualified students and, in fact, the number of applications for the JD program is already on track to exceed last year.

Boston University’s strategic plan has a number of implications for graduate programs. The commitment to increase the number of faculty in the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences by approximately 20% and to add 20 new tenure-track lines to the School of Management over the next decade will expand resources in select areas of scholarly activity. In addition, the strategic plan calls for 30 new faculty slots to be established in support of interdisciplinary initiatives.

Two University-wide graduate programs are currently being developed to integrate our assets and opportunities in Neuroscience and in Systems Biology and Bioinformatics. The University Research Council, whose role is described in more detail in STANDARD FOUR: THE ACADEMIC PROGRAM, has begun to examine graduate financial aid practices across all schools and colleges, and to explore the feasibility of providing full first-year (and possibly second-year) support for all doctoral students. Attractive financial aid packages will be essential to graduate recruiting in an increasingly competitive market, where prospective students are increasingly aware of academic programs, facilities, alumni success, and faculty interactions. These initiatives, combined with the reviews of graduate programs to be conducted at the school- and college-level, will advance discussion on vital issues: the “right-sizing” of graduate programs; identification of Boston University’s particular strengths; and the levels of resources and support necessary to sustain graduate programs that are of the highest quality and competitiveness.

 

*The only academic unit with a greater number of graduate students—though with fewer degree programs—is Metropolitan College (Extended Education), which had 2,316 registered students as of December 20, 2008, compared to 1,930 students in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.

**Two departments in the College of Arts & Sciences—Music and Religion—do not have graduate programs. The graduate studies arm of the Religion department is called the Division of Religious & Theological Studies, and is taught in part by faculty from the School of Theology and departments across Boston University.