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Two members of the Class of 2010—Jessica R. Connaughton of Garden City Park, N.Y., left, and Suzanne M. McKenna of Garden City, N.Y.—help clean up Neutaconkanut Park in Providence as part of the College’s Urban Action program, held on August 31 through September 2.
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The Class of 2010 has begun its freshman year on several high notes. Consider:
• The College received a school-record 8,799 applications for admission to the class. That’s an increase of 562 applications over last year’s previous high.
• The class started the year at 1,033 strong, just 34 less than the Class of 2009’s incoming total.
• The Liberal Arts Honors Program enrolled 152 freshmen—far higher than the 84 freshmen enrollees from last year.
• And, the percentage of all students of color in the Class of 2010 is 11.3%, up from 10.2% for the Class of 2009.
Christopher P. Lydon '83, associate vice president for admission and enrollment planning, attributed the increase in applications to a “growing trend. It’s not simply about us. In general, Catholic higher education is viewed in a positive way.” He was particularly pleased by the large number of arts honors enrollees.
“There is an 80% increase in arts honors students over last year, which is dramatic, to say the least,” said Lydon. “We had been hopeful that refining our merit-based strategy would make a difference. This clearly exceeded our expectations.”
In other noteworthy areas for the Class of 2010, the percentage of freshmen who were in the top 10% of their senior (high school) class is 44.4%—an increase of nearly 7% over the Class of 2009 (37.5%). The class has an unweighted grade point average (GPA) of 3.46—the highest in eight years and up from last year’s GPA of 3.42.
The class also has shown a penchant for getting involved both on campus and in the community. In one highlight of their early collegiate experience, 150 freshmen participated in the 16th annual Urban Action program. The freshmen—along with 25 upper-class leaders—volunteered 3,000 hours of labor restoring six sites, including three parks, a school for low-income girls, and neighborhoods near the College.