The deadline, originally set for Thursday, May 1, has been pushed back to Saturday, May 31. For more information, visit the undergraduate admission Web site.

“We do not want students and parents to worry that they have missed the deadline to pay tuition deposits,” said Alan Kines, director of undergraduate admission at WCU. “Because financial aid information from other schools may have been delayed in getting to some students, we are extending the fall tuition deposit deadline to the end of May to give students an opportunity to review their options.”

The deadline extension will mean longer hours for Western’s admission staff members, who have been working extra hours all semester trying to keep up with an avalanche of applications from students seeking undergraduate admission. As of April 28, Western had received a total of 7,327 applications for admission from new first-year students – an increase of 58.28 percent over last year’s total of 4,629.

Admission officers attribute the dramatic surge in applications to a variety of factors, including the adoption of a more precise system of student recruitment that helps identify prospective students who are more likely to be interested in attending WCU. The system examines responses to questions about preference for a public or private university, desire to remain in state, willingness to travel more than three hours from home, educational attainment of parents, and similar information collected by the College Board when students take the SAT.

Also playing a role in the increase in applications is the addition of several new academic programs that have proven popular with prospective students. The most popular programs among high school students applying to Western for fall are forensic science and anthropology, construction management, music, education, nursing, health sciences, communication, and motion picture and television production.

Western’s Pride of the Mountains Marching Band – the largest marching band in the Carolinas, with more than 300 members – also draws interest from a large number of prospective students. About 14 percent of the freshman class played in the marching band last year.

The Honors College, a special living-learning environment for high-achieving students, also is a popular draw for students who want to get more out of their education through honors courses and special academic, leadership and social programs.

For more information or to schedule a campus tour, visit http://www.wcu.edu/ or call (877) WCU-4-YOU.

Maintained by the Office of Public Relations
Last Modified: Thursday, May 1, 2008