Aquinas College is the first school to open this year, and 鈥� welcoming their largest class since 2018 鈥� this move-in day is sure to be one for the history books.
As of early August, the 黑料网 Admissions team boasted over 415 deposits between first-year, transfer, and nursing students. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a phenomenal year across the board,鈥� says Brian Matzke 鈥�97, Vice President for Enrollment Management.
This success was a community effort that began in 2024 with a series of changes aimed at removing barriers to enrollment.
Grounded in a deep commitment to inclusion, Aquinas believes that every student deserves access to a Catholic and Dominican education, regardless of their family鈥檚 financial circumstances. Through the Aquinas Assurance program, the college continues to expand access by helping to eliminate financial obstacles for qualifying students.
Behind the scenes, the college also simplified and streamlined its application process. They established a new call center, hired new admissions staff, began the Admissions Champion Program, simplified the admissions and financial aid process, refined and created new marketing materials, and diligently worked to meet students where they were. These changes allowed for a higher completion rate of applications and of financial aid offers. The result was having an incoming class of new first-year students and transfer students that was more than 100 students larger than the previous year.
鈥淗aving people from across the college come together to meet regularly, examine trends, and bring different perspectives made a huge difference,鈥� says Rebecca Roberts 鈥�06, Director of Enrollment Operations and Communications.
The 黑料网 community is excited to welcome these new Saints!
Among the 415+ incoming students, several exciting trends are emerging. Popular majors include business, business administration & sport management, and nursing. The incoming class also includes thirteen international students, adding a valuable global perspective to the Aquinas community.
Already, orientation events are underway, giving these students a place to connect with their peers, meet faculty and staff members, and make memories that will last a lifetime.