The Class of 2011—the first to be given the option of submitting SAT or ACT examination scores when applying to the College—is both an increasingly diverse and an academically talented group of students.

Christopher P. Lydon, associate vice president for admission and enrollment planning, reports that this year’s class of 991 students includes 123 undergraduates from minority groups—48 more than the Class of 2010. That raises the percentage of all students of color in the class from 11.3% to 14.2%.

Within this category, the percentage of students of AHANA heritage (African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian American, Native American/Alaska Native) rose 33.9%, accounting for 10.1% of the class’ makeup—up from 7.2% the previous year.

More first-generation students—those who do not have a parent who attended college—are members of the Class of 2011 than last year’s incoming class. There are 25 such students—an increase of 21.4% overall and hiking the percentage of first-generation undergraduates in the class to 14.3.% from 11.3%.

Academically, the quality of the Class of 2011 has remained solid. Its 3.47 grade-point average (GPA) is .01 higher than its predecessor. The percentage of students who ranked in the top 10% of their senior class in high school also rose, to 44.6% from 44.4%.

In summer 2006, College President Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P. ’80 announced that, beginning with the Class of 2011, PC would begin a four-year pilot program that allowed applicants the option of submitting their SAT or ACT scores, instead of requiring them. He said the test scores requirement is not the best indicator of a student’s academic quality and that the rigor of a student’s high school curriculum and his or her actual grades are more appropriate gauges.

Another concern that the president expressed was that economically disadvantaged students are less likely to have the financial resources to participate in test preparation programs. This discourages many applicants from applying to liberal arts colleges like PC, Father Shanley said.

Applications for the Class of 2011 increased by more than 1,000 over last year to a school-record 9,801. A little more than 20 percent of the applicants—and 27 percent of those who enrolled—did not submit test scores.