For the second year in a row, Loyola Marymount University has received a record number of applications for its freshman class. The 11,181 students who applied for admission to LMU represent a 12.3 percent increase over last year. The largest group of applicants, 7,874, was California students, up 17.6 percent.
LMU’s reputation has been on the rise in recent years, and the university is now ranked third among in “Best Regional Universities (West)” by U.S. News & World Report.
Matt Fissinger, director of admission, said potential students are hearing positive things from current students about “all the good things going on [at LMU], and great students telling their friends this is a terrific place.”
Other factors contributing to the growth of in-state applications, Fissinger said, are past and looming budget cuts at the University of California and Cal State campuses. Previous state cuts have led to sharp tuition and fee increases at the public universities, and have made it harder for students to get the classes they need to graduate in four years.
“I think pricing plays a role,” said Fissinger. “The difference in cost is not as disparate, and I think there is real uncertainty about the immediate future of the educational environment at the UC and Cal State systems. In addition, families are figuring out that four years at LMU is not much more expensive than five or six years at a UC.”
Along with the applicant numbers, the GPAs and SATs of LMU entering students have been on the rise. This year’s entering class had an average GPA of 3.74, a record for the university. The average SAT and ACT scores were 1204 and 27.0, respectively, up from 1177 and 25.9 last fall, and also records. (The SAT score is out of 1600.)
One statistic that did not change this year from last: 61 percent of applicants are women and 39 percent men.
Californians make up about two-thirds of the applicant pool at LMU. There was an increase of 1,181 applications this year from students living in California. The number of students applying from out of state went up by 41.
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February 10, 2011
News Contact: Peter M. Warren | 310.338.2389 | peter.warren@lmu.edu
