Published: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 in The Whitworthian.

As the Nov. 30 deadline for early action applications approaches, numbers are on track for a larger applicant pool than last year.

Thus far, there are 3,662 applications for the incoming class of fall 2009, representing a 5.7 percent increase over the number of applications received at this time last year.

Previous years have seen larger freshman classes than expected, resulting in parking and housing crunches and breaking past the university’s stated goal of a 2 percent increase per year in the size of the student body.

The university plans to enroll a smaller freshman class of 525 next fall, said Fred Pfursich, vice president of admissions and financial aid.

There were 570 incoming freshmen this fall, according to the Fall 2008 Tenth Day enrollment report.

The admissions schedule is divided up into weeks starting the first of October, Pfursich said. The university uses the schedule to organize and spot trends in the application process.

“We’re currently in week seven,” he said.

The early application process is important to the university because it yields a high percentage of enrollments, Pfursich said.

Out of the nearly 3,500 early applications received last year, 30.8 percent of those admitted were enrolled, compared to 21.1 percent of regular applicants.

This difference can usually be attributed to the types of students who tend to apply early, Pfursich said.

“In general, students who apply early are a little more confident in their choices of schools,” he said. “They want to get on with it.”

The regular application deadline is March 1.

Schools nationwide are also receiving a surprising number of early action applicants in spite of the economy, according to a recent article in The New York Times.

People are often more prone to try to get into school during an economic downturn, Pfursich said, because of the greater number of career opportunities open to college graduates.

Pfursich said the applications received are in line with a typical Whitworth applicant pool in terms of gender, ethnicity and GPA.

Prospective student Clarissa Riches is in the process of applying to Whitworth.

“I like the smaller campus,” she said. “The students all seem really enthusiastic. Almost everyone’s wearing a [Whitworth] logo.”

Pfursich expressed some concern over how national situations such as the economy might affect enrollment.

State schools such as Eastern Washington University and Washington State University face potential budget cuts of up to 20 percent pending budget decisions that Gov. Christine Gregoire will make in the coming months, according to an article in the Spokesman-Review.

The cuts won’t affect Whitworth directly, but it’s impossible to say what the indirect effects might be, Pfursich said.

“It’s way too early to make any kind of projections, but it’s definitely going to be an interesting and challenging year,” he said.