Ryerson has managed to increase fall 2015 applications despite an overall decrease in total applications to university, according to Ontario Universities Application Centre (OUAC)
statistics.
For the second year in a row, the number of high school students applying to Ontario universities has decreased. OUAC reported 2,796 fewer applications than last year, a 0.7 per cent drop.
Meanwhile, Ryerson application numbers for the upcoming fall semester have increased by four per cent.
The only other universities reporting increased application numbers across all first-, second- and third-choice applications were Western University’s Brescia University College, which had a 10 per cent increase, and Nipissing University, which had a five per cent increase.
This is the second consecutive year that OUAC has reported a decline in applications. Before 2014, applications were steadily increasing every year for 14 years.
Director of admissions and Ryerson representative for OUAC, Charmaine Hack, said the decrease was expected. She said Ryerson was able to overcome this and attract more students to apply by having degree programs that offer both theory and relevant career skills.
“Our … history of innovation, downtown location and new academic facilities all contribute to making Ryerson an attractive choice for prospective students,” Hack said.
Ryerson increased application numbers in all choice categories and had the second largest volume of first-choice applications at 10,070 after University of Toronto, which had 13,473
first-choice applications for fall 2015.
York, Western, Guelph-Humber and Carleton Universities all suffered declines in total application numbers this year. York University reported the greatest decline in first-choice applications among Toronto universities with only 6,087 applications, an 8.2 per cent drop from last year.
Ryerson also came in fourth for highest percentage of total increased applications behind Nipissing University with a five per cent increase, Ontario College of Art and Design University with an 8.6 per cent increase and Brescia University College with a 9.8 per cent increase. University of Toronto had a 1.5 per cent increase in applications this year.
Last year, Ryerson experienced a decrease in applications in all choice categories and was at 0.7 per cent total decline of applications, falling from a 10.9 per cent application increase in 2013.
This story was first published in The Ryersonian, a weekly newspaper produced by the Ryerson School of Journalism, on Jan. 28, 2015.
Betty graduated from the Ryerson School of Journalism in 2015.