enrollment – The Oberlin Review

A tour guide leads a group on a campus tour. Demographic factors are impacting admissions strategies at colleges and universities across the country.

Changing Landscape of Higher Ed Admissions Impacts Oberlin

November 8, 2019

Oberlin’s enrollment grew two percent this past year, from 2,785 students last year to 2,846 this year, making it one of three private colleges in the region to experience growth amid shrinking enrollments at colleges and universities throughout Northeast Ohio. This increase in enrollment was accompanied by a higher acceptance rate. “We are in a time of real change in admissions and enrollment in higher education,” Vice President and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Manuel Carballo wrote in an...

Conservatory sophomore Josephine Lee and double-degree junior Phoebe Pan practice together in Bibbins Hall.

AAPR Recommends Structural Changes to Con

April 19, 2019

One of the primary areas of recommendation to come out of the Academic and Administrative Program Review concerns structural changes to the Conservatory. Specifically, the steering committee has supported the creation of a revamped Musical Studies major and minor, and recommended that Oberlin increase College enrollment by 100 students while simultaneously decreasing the Conservatory enrollment by 100 students over the course of four years. This recommendation was made partially in response to d...

All Roads Weed to Oberlin

Madisyn Mettenburg, Production Editor

April 27, 2018

As we spend more time at this institution, the memory of why we chose Oberlin in the first place can fade. Our collective apathy, resentment toward authority, and a weaponized sense of self-deprecation make it easy to forget that perhaps there was a time when we would have sworn by the lanyards hanging around our young necks that this was the place for us. Because of this memory, I was heartened to see the Oberlin administration recognize and celebrate one of our school’s greatest strengths: choosing April 20 — more commonly known as 4/20 — as one of the days for its admissions event “All Roads Lead to Oberlin.” This kind of event comes at a time when reaching admissions goals is no less than vital. The unde...

Repairs of Campus Crucial for Enrollment, Retention

El Wilson, Opinions Editor

February 16, 2018

Among Oberlin’s new efforts to increase enrollment and retention rates are some much-needed renovations of Oberlin’s buildings. A key example of this is Wilder Hall lobby. The administration decided to begin these renovations after Student Senate conducted a survey that revealed that Oberlin students want far more accessible and communal spaces on campus. Oberlin is in desperate need of more communal spaces and major building renovations. However, the administration’s priorities are out of order. I am on the management team of SWAP: The Book Co-Op, which is located in the basement of Harkness House. SWAP is an amazing place where students can exchange textbooks without exchanging money. The co-op’s main goal ...

College Projects Enrollment Rebound

Devyn Malouf

February 9, 2018

After a significant enrollment shortfall that led to a $5-million deficit, the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid projects that Oberlin College and Conservatory will meet its target admission rate for the class of 2022, reducing the deficit by approximately $2 million. The office examined and has been responding to trends in high school graduate demographics, prospective student feedback, and issues concerning lower retention to help recover enrollment numbers. Interim Vice President and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Manuel Carballo said 169 Early Decision-I applicants have been accepted, while Early Decision-II is expected to bring in roughly 65 new commits, and 23 students who deferred their admission la...

Discussion of Enrollment, Retention Must Include Dorms

Editorial Board

November 17, 2017

Enrollment and retention are two of the most immediate issues that Oberlin College must address. That much has become clear over the last few years, as the College has seen its Moody’s credit rating drop and budget deficit soar due in large part to unexpected enrollment shortfalls. Naturally, the College’s administration is looking to address these problems that have a significant impact on College finances — the PAL program is a prime example. Created by Associate Dean of Students Dana Hamdan, PAL seeks to address feelings of discontent and isolation among first-year students that have negatively impacted retention. One aspect of student life that has been overlooked in discussions of how to address student unhappin...

“Financial Update From Chris Canavan ’84, Chair-elect, Board of Trustees”

Chris Canavan, OC ’84

September 8, 2017

Editor’s Note: The following is an email sent June 14, 2017 to the Oberlin College faculty and staff by the chair of the Board of Trustees. This was not submitted to the Review as a Letter to the Editors, but as it is addressed to the Oberlin community, we feel it appropriate to publish the text in full. To the Oberlin community: Oberlin’s Board of Trustees met last week. It was a bittersweet meeting because Oberlin is going through so many transitions. President Marvin Krislov will soon depart for Pace University. We bid farewell to Mike Frandsen, Sandhya Subramanian, and Debra Chermonte. But we also welcomed Oberlin’s 15th president, Carmen Ambar, and we’re lucky to have Alan Norton, Donica Varner...

College Finance

December 5, 2014

Activists Concerned Over Black Student Enrollment Numbers

Oliver Bok, Staff Writer

November 21, 2014

Members of Student Senate formed a task force in response to the efforts of student activists, who expressed concern at a recent plenary that the percentage of black students and other students of color at Oberlin is too low. According to College junior and Student Senator Nick Canavan, the new task force that Senate unanimously voted to create is currently organizing a panel discussion for next semester about increasing diversity at Oberlin. “We want to have as many different people with different types of knowledge because this is such a far reaching issue. ... Having not only student leaders for groups on campus but also having representatives [who] know how our finances work,” said Canavan. Using the U.S. Depar...