Get Herald RSSThe number of applicants to the Graduate School has jumped over 60 percent since the 2001-2002 academic year, and though this year's applications are not fully tallied, their number already surpassed last year's figure of 6,282 by about 200, according to data gathered by the Grad School.
The Grad School has become more selective over the same period, with its acceptance rate falling from 27 percent to 17 percent.
"The single factor I'd point to as being the most important … is the Plan for Academic Enrichment, which has brought a new faculty influx at Brown," said Dean of the Graduate School Sheila Bonde.
Applications climbed 27 percent, from 3,811 to 4,844, in the 2002-03 academic year - the first class after the University launched the Plan for Academic Enrichment. The following year, the applicant pool grew by an additional 25 percent to 6,079.
Andrew Foster, professor of economics and chair of the department, echoed Bonde.
"Brown's (economics department) has become more visible in certain circles," due in part to acclaimed additions to the faculty, he said. But, he noted, it is not clear how many applicants are aware of that change in such a short period of time.
Bonde also cited a 40 percent rise in stipends paid to doctoral candidates who become teaching assistants, research assistants or join fellowships as another factor attracting more grad students.
"We went very quickly from a 2002 stipend of $12,000 to the present stipend, which is $18,000," Bonde said. She added that the improved financial package makes Brown more competitive with peer institutions such as Yale, Princeton and Columbia universities.
Graduate Student Council President Joseph Bush GS wrote in an e-mail to The Herald that "competitive" stipends help "make for good offers to the prospective grad student."
Bonde also attributed the growth in applicant numbers to the Grad School's decision to make official a policy that will guarantee five years of stipends to its incoming class of doctoral students. But some students believe it does not go far enough to support doctoral students beyond their fifth year.
Chad Galts, director of communications for the Grad School, said every other school in Brown's peer group with the exception of the University of Chicago offers five years of guaranteed support.
Galts and Foster also credited the applicant increase to an increase in electronic applications, which Foster said allow "greater accessibility" to distant students. Galts said 97 percent of the Grad School's applications are now submitted online.
Individual departments have also been recruiting more prospective students, Bonde said.
The increase in grad student applications is not constant across all departments. The Department of Economics, which has one of the largest graduate departments at the University, saw an increase in applications for its doctoral program from 473 in 2005-2006 to 579 in 2006-2007, according to department data. So far, the total number of applications this year is around 550, Foster said.
Applications in the Division of Engineering, which also has one of the largest grad programs, now total over 400, up from around 300 last semester, Galts said.
But applications for the Department of English, another large department, have remained relatively constant at around 300, said Daniel Kim, associate professor of English and director of the graduate studies for the department.
Although application rates are going up, the Grad School plans to decrease the size of its program by about twelve students due to uncertainty about how much the guaranteed support to all doctoral students for five years will affect the budget, Bonde said. The twelve cuts will be taken from several departments.
"We're making sure that we can cover the students who are already here before we admit more into this guaranteed system," Bonde said. She said she doesn't foresee any problems, but "we're just being cautious."
