Emory Joins Peer Institutions in Releasing Common Data Set

Emory plans to release its Common Data Set (CDS) survey on April 25, according to Director of Institutional Research Melissa Bolyard.

The CDS Initiative is an effort to “improve the quality and accuracy” of the information available to students transitioning into post-secondary education, according to the CDS website. Emory participated in the survey for the 2011-12 school year but has not participated again until this year’s survey, which examined statistics from the Fall 2017 enrollment cycles. In previous years, Emory completed the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) submitted to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) instead of the CDS.

Bolyard said that Emory hadn’t released the CDS since 2012 because of inefficient data collection methods. Bolyard added that the University intends to complete the CDS in future years as well.

“It’s taken us a while to set up [data collection] processes and so we work with people across the University including … the Office of Financial Aid, Admissions and the Registrar’s Office,” Bolyard said. “We think we’re at a place right now where it can be done efficiently and we feel really good about the data that we’re making public.”

Emory’s first-time freshman yield for Fall 2017 was 26.5 percent. The average yield for Fall 2016 was 32 percent among national universities, 26.6 percent for liberal arts colleges. The freshman yield was 46.7 percent for Georgetown, 35.2 percent for Rice, and 56 percent for Notre Dame.

The CDS indicated that 2,991 full-time undergraduate students were eligible for and awarded need-based financial aid. The average “financial aid package” was $39,571 per academic year. This number can include Woodruff Scholarships and college grants but does not include loans or work study, according to Assistant Vice Provost and Director of Financial Aid John Leach.

Emory’s transfer enrollment rate was on the lower end of the range when compared to peer institutions, according to the CDS. Of 4,277 applicants who were offered a spot on Emory’s waitlist, 2,992 accepted the waitlist position and 41 were admitted. This translates to a 1.37 percent waitlist enrollment rate in Fall 2016, according to the survey. The waitlist enrollment rate for the same semester was 6 percent at Georgetown University (D.C.), 11.4 percent for the University of Notre Dame (Ind.) and 0.07 percent for Rice University (Texas). The average waitlist enrollment rate for post-secondary education institutions in the United States is about 20 percent, according to a 17 study by U.S. News and World Report.

Emory received 1,000 transfer enrollment applications in Fall 2016. Two hundred fifty-six students were admitted, 71 of whom chose to enroll. Emory’s transfer enrollment yield was 28 percent, while the national average boasts nearly two-thirds, according to a study by the National Association for College Admission Counseling. The transfer yield for the same period was 61.2 percent for Georgetown, 50 percent for Rice and 79.1 percent for Notre Dame.

Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Enrollment and Dean of Admission John Latting said that despite the fact that some admitted students choose to enroll in a different school, the overall quality of students, indicated by their high school GPA, high school academic rigor and test scores, choosing to enroll at Emory has increased.

“When you control for the level of academic preparation and quality of applicants, [Emory’s] yield is increasing,” Latting said.

The Office of Financial Aid subtracts the expected family contribution (EFC) from a student’s total cost of attendance to determine need, according to Leach. As such, Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students (PLUS) loans, unsubsidized loans and private alternative loans a student receives are not used to calculate the student’s financial need for that academic year.

As of Oct. 15, 2017, 2,762 undergraduate men and 4,032 undergraduate women were enrolled, a 41:59 ratio. The same ratio applied to graduate students: 2,418 graduate men and 3,418 graduate women were enrolled. Twenty-three percent of men who applied to be freshmen were admitted and 21 percent of women who applied to be freshmen were admitted.

For national standardized test scores, the average range for ACT composite scores was higher for total accepted students than it was for total enrolled students; which implies that the higher-scoring students tended not to choose Emory after they were accepted.

The 25th to 75th percentile of admitted students received SAT scores from 1360 to 1490 and ACT composite scores from 31 to 34, according to Emory’s “Facts and Figures” page. The CDS reveals that for enrolled students, the 25th to 75th percentile range for SAT scores was wider at 1350 to 1520, and the range for ACT composite scores was lower at 30 to 33.

The CDS also reports that in Fall 2017, 21 percent of undergraduate students were from Georgia, whereas 15 percent of freshmen that year were not from out of state. Of all undergraduates, 26 percent of men join a fraternity and 29 percent of women join a sorority.

According to the CDS, 1,337 classes were offered for credit in Fall 2017. One hundred eighty-six of these have 2-9 students and 34 had more than 100; the faculty-student ratio for that semester was 1:9.

Correction (4/25/18 at 1:54 p.m.): A previous version of this article stated that this year’s survey analyzed Fall 2016 enrollment statistics. The article has been updated to reflect that this year’s survey, in fact, analyzed Fall 2017 enrollment statistics.