Tuesday,
September 10, 2002
Record-Number
of Students Apply for Admission to Lincoln University;
4,040 Applications Represent a 26% Hike from Fall 2001
Increase in Students' Applications is "Major Indicator"
of Lincoln's Resurgence, University President Ivory V.
Nelson Says.
LINCOLN
UNIVERSITY, PA -- Lincoln University has received a record
4,040 applications from students seeking admission to
America's first Historically Black University for the
fall 2002-2003 academic year. It is the first time in
the 149-year history of the University that Lincoln has
received more than 4,000 student applications. The number
of new student applicants represents a 26 percent increase,
or 825 more applications over last year's figures.
"Lincoln
University is very pleased that increasing numbers of
students are considering the University as their institution
of choice to receive an undergraduate education,"
said President Ivory V. Nelson, Ph.D.
President
Nelson added: "The tremendous increase in student
applications is a major indicator of the resurgence in
Lincoln's national reputation for academic excellence
and return to prominence. Students want to come to Lincoln
because we are true to our historic mission: Lincoln University
prepares learners and produces leaders to shape the world.
The University is committed to providing students with
excellent professors and the most stimulating of intellectual
opportunities. Excellence flows from a commitment to doing
things better. This is the heritage of Lincoln University."
Lincoln
is nationally recognized for being a major producer of
African Americans with undergraduate degrees in the physical
sciences (biology, chemistry, and physics); computer and
information sciences; and biological and life sciences.
These national distinctions are continuations of the Lincoln
tradition of educating an impressive list of African Americans
who have distinguished themselves as doctors, lawyers,
educators, businesspersons, theologians, and heads of
state.
Also,
in what is considered an unprecedented distinction among
all of the nation's colleges and universities, two of
Lincoln University's alumni have been honored for their
distinguished lifetime achievements with commemorative
stamps by the U.S. Post Office. Last February, the Postal
Service issued a commemorative, first-class stamp for
1929 Lincoln University alumnus Langston Hughes, a world-acclaimed
poet. In January 2003, the postal service will release
for sale a first-class stamp to honor U.S. Supreme Court
Justice Thurgood Marshall, a 1930 Lincoln graduate. Justice
Marshall, the first African American member of the nation's
highest court, is being honored for having championed
civil and equal rights, including developing the legal
strategy to end segregation in America's schools.
Over
the past three years, applications and enrollment have
been on the rise at the University, according to Dr. William
B. Bynum, Jr., Lincoln's vice president for Student Affairs
and Enrollment Management. Fall enrollment figures for
freshman and other first-year students will be finalized
at the end of September. Classes started August 28.
Dr.
Bynum notes that many of the nation's colleges and universities
have seen increases in their applicant pool this year,
but few can boast Lincoln's 26 percent jump. He chalks
Lincoln's increase in applications to four significant
factors: successful implementation of a strategic enrollment
management plan, proactive student recruitment activities,
targeted marketing of the University, and word-of-mouth
endorsements by Lincoln students and alumni.
While
increasing its number of applications, Lincoln, however,
also maintained its selectivity by accepting only 48 percent
of those who applied for enrollment to the campus which
is located 45 miles southwest of Philadelphia in southern
Chester County, Pennsylvania.
According
to data contained in U.S. News and World Report's 2001
edition of "College Rankings," Lincoln's 48
percent acceptance rate is one of the lowest for masters'
and comprehensive universities in the Northeast region.
In addition to improving its acceptance rate, Lincoln
also increased its overall student SAT and grade point
averages. This year's SAT average among first-year entering
(freshman and transfer) students is 890; that is 26 points
above last year's average of 864. Lincoln's average is
also 31 points above the national average score for African
Americans. Lincoln also increased its high school grade
point average for this year's first-year class to 2.88;
the figure is .11 above last year's high school grade
point average of 2.77 average.
Founded
in 1854 as America's first Historically Black University,
Lincoln University provides the best elements of a liberal
arts and sciences-based undergraduate core curriculum
and selected graduate programs to meet the needs of students
living in a highly technological and global society. During
the 2001-2002 academic year, Lincoln enrolled 1,871 undergraduate
and graduate students.
From
April 2003 through May 2004, the University will celebrate
its sesquicentennial, or 150th anniversary, with an array
of campus and external events, activities, and announcements.
For more information about the University, visit Lincoln's
Web site at www.lincoln.edu.
