It feels good to be on the other side of the May 1 national college decision day in a great position to exceed our new student enrollment goals for fall 2016.

As of May 2, Illinois Tech has received 474 enrollment deposits from our first-year students. To my knowledge, this is the largest number of deposits that we have received as of the morning of May 2 in more than 20 years.

Our fall 2016 goal for first-year students is 520. As we are on a rolling admissions cycle, we continue to receive and review applications throughout the summer. We are traveling to China in July to interview top high school students who wish to obtain their undergraduate degree in the United States. Typically the China trip in July yields an additional 20 to 30 first-year international students.

In addition to the number of deposits being high, the first-year class is shaping nicely. Among the 400 domestic deposits, 34 percent are from outside the state of Illinois, 16 percent are international, and 30 percent are underrepresented minorities. The average ACT composite score is currently 28.5, and the average SAT (Verbal plus Math) is running at 1250.

At this time, I would like to thank Caryn Schnierle, associate vice president for Enrollment Management, Toni Riley, director of Undergraduate Admissions, Denise Moriarty, associate vice president for Marketing and Communications, and the entire undergraduate admissions and marketing and communications teams for their enthusiasm, dedication and old-fashioned hard work in bringing in this year’s class. I also thank the entire university community; faculty, students, staff, alumni, trustees, and friends, for doing so much throughout the year to make Illinois Tech the top choice for so many prospective students. Your engagement and interaction with our students truly makes a difference.

We will be working hard over the summer to continue to engage our deposited students. I look forward to welcoming them into the Illinois Tech community this summer at orientation and welcome week.