Oswego State had a record number of new student and transfer applications for the fall 2017 semester. Over 11,700 students applied to join the Oswego State Class of 2021 and 2,300 students applied as transfers, a total of more than 14,000 applications processed for the fall semester.

“An estimated 1,480 first year students have enrolled, and an additional 750 transfer students have enrolled,” said Daniel Griffin, the director of admissions for Oswego State.

Factors considered when an applicant applies for entrance to Oswego State include high school course selection, grades, SAT or ACT scores, their application essay, academic and advisor recommendations, as well as extracurricular activities.

“Generally, we keep our acceptance rate between 50 to 55 percent. This year’s acceptance rate was 54 percent,” said Griffin. Stony Brook University has the lowest acceptance rate of the SUNY system, with 41 percent of applicants accepted to the university. SUNY College of Technology at Canton, with an acceptance rate of 85 percent, has the highest acceptance rate in the SUNY system, meaning that the highest number of applicants are accepted.

Students who are not accepted to Oswego State, but still wish to receive a degree from the college, may consider the Start Now program.

The Start Now program allows students to enter Oswego State as sophomores and juniors after attending classes at Jefferson Community College. “Start Now is an admission program managed by Oswego, in coordination with Jefferson Community College,” Griffin said.

“It is intended to provide a path for students who applied to Oswego as freshmen, did not meet our admission criteria, but show academic promise and talent.”

The number of students accepted into the college each year depends on various factors. “Maintaining a healthy college enrollment… and keeping residence halls filled is our basic goal, while maintaining academic standards,” Griffin said.

The high amount of accepted incoming students has had the admissions department keep watch on those factors and the resources of the school to allow for a smooth semester. “This fall class is close to the top in terms of the size we can enroll without creating difficulties,” Griffin said.

The School of Education had the highest estimated acceptance of any fall admissions group since the fall of 2010, with 211 students expected to join that school this year. The admissions department also saw an increased number of applications from diverse groups, with an estimated 508 diverse students in the class of 2021, compared to 270 in the Class of 2014.

“Most commonly, people refer to it in the context of race and ethnicity, but more broadly we consider students’ geographic places of origin and academic interests, and other factors, as well,” Griffin said. Oswego State has worked to increase the number of freshmen from underrepresented groups each year for the past seven years. The diversity of the freshmen class of 2010 was 19.4 percent, or 270 enrollees.

The diversity among the freshmen class of this year, however, stands at more than 500 estimated students, over 34 percent of the incoming class. The diversity of the incoming class extends to the geographic homes of its students. Enrollment from Downstate New York was strong and enrollment from Oswego County and nearby counties saw a resurgence.

“It will be a very strong class again, with a rebound from Central New York enrollments. We are predicting… about 325 freshmen from the region,” Griffin said, according to the Oswego State news webpage.