Even as Ontario high schools produce fewer graduates these days, Brock University’s numbers appear to be defying the gravity.
In a year when Brock officials have stepped up efforts to engage potential students, and when spring Open House drew record crowds, Brock’s confirmed applications for 2017-18 are tracking ahead of where they were at this time last year.
Data compiled by the Ontario Universities Application Centre (OUAC) shows that Brock’s confirmed application numbers for undergrad and graduate students combined were up 5.2 per cent from a year ago. That’s more than double the average 2.4-per cent growth rate for all 20 Ontario universities.
In the benchmark “101” category — students entering first-year university directly from Ontario high schools — Brock currently has one of the top four growth rates in the province, up 8.6 per cent over last year, compared to the Ontario university average of 1.1 per cent.
“There’s a momentum,” said Jamie Mandigo, Vice-Provost of Enrolment Management and International. “People can feel the buzz.”
Brock’s own analytics also reveal other positive indicators:
- applicants with an academic average of 90 or higher are up nearly 20 per cent;
- confirmations for international students have surged 29 per cent; and
- applicants from across Ontario who made Brock their university of first choice went up more than 13 per cent.
Brock’s enrolment last year reached 18,704, and Mandigo says that while no university will know their numbers for this year until classes start in the fall, the latest figures are more evidence that Brock is in major transition.
“There’s a real sense of renewal,” said Mandigo. “We have a new president coming in, we keep building world-class facilities, and our faculty and staff are actively providing experiential learning opportunities for students throughout the community.”
In less than a decade, Brock has constructed more than $200-million worth of cutting-edge teaching and research facilities, thanks to generous private and government investments. Major new assets include the Cairns Family Health and Bioscience Research Complex ($112-million) and Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts ($45-million).
In terms of teaching, Brock is in Ontario’s top 5 universities for professors who have won 3M National Teaching Fellowships, considered Canada’s most prestigious prize for teaching excellence at the university level.
Brock graduates also do well on the career front. The Ontario government’s latest figures show that, two years out from graduation, Brock grads had a 95 per cent employment rate, which is higher than the provincial average.
Brock’s momentum has been captured and communicated through the new “Experience” brand campaign. Launched in the fall of 2016, the campaign highlights Brock’s leadership in experiential learning and its highly-ranked student experience, and has been prominent throughout Ontario over the past several months.
Mandigo said it is encouraging that the latest data shows positive signs across a range of categories. While enrolments remain healthy for Brock’s two largest Faculties — Social Sciences and Applied Health Sciences — the University’s other Faculties delivering undergraduate programs (i.e., Math and Science, Humanities and Goodman School of Business) have also seen increased confirmations in excess of 15 per cent compared to last year.
“Students have many options in where to go to school, but our hard work and reputation is getting noticed,” said Mandigo. “Look at the growing number of first-choice selections for Brock. People know they get a great student experience when they come here.
“We are becoming a go-to place. The numbers show it.”
