Graduate school admissions rise
by Harry Shipps
Assistant News Editor
News | 10/6/09
Posted online at 2:47 AM EST on 10/6/09
The graduate schools at Brandeis have been successful in increasing admissions in an effort to counteract the effects of the current financial crisis and pre-existing budgetary concerns within the graduate schools, according to information presented at a faculty meeting last Thursday.
Applications for the master's program at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences have increased by 30 percent, and applications for doctoral programs have increased by 5.8 percent, said Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Prof. Gregory Freeze (HIST) at the meeting. He stated that that the school aimed to increase the number of applicants for the master's program as a way of generating more revenue, an idea presented in the Curriculum and Academic Restructuring Steering committee's plan for the University.
Revenue is created by adding master's students because they are required to pay tuition. Ph.D. students, on the other hand, are paid stipends by the University. In an e-mail to the Justice, Freeze said that applications for master's and certificate programs within GSAS had jumped an "astronomical 36 percent" over last year.
The entering class of master's and certificate students rose from 200 last year to 255 this year, according to Freeze. Because of the jump in applications, Freeze wrote, "GSAS became more, not less, selective in admissions, with a substantial improvement in quantitative markers such as GPA and GRE scores."
Freeze said that this jump in admissions of master's and certificate students accounted for about two-thirds of the improvement in the GSAS budget, which "went from a deficit of $1.7 million last year to a positive $300,000 this year," wrote Freeze. At the faculty meeting, Freeze said that, in keeping with the recommendations of the CARS committee, the number of admitted Ph.D. students had been cut, but the stipends paid to those students increased, which increased the percentage of students offered admission who accepted.
Applications for the master's program at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences have increased by 30 percent, and applications for doctoral programs have increased by 5.8 percent, said Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Prof. Gregory Freeze (HIST) at the meeting. He stated that that the school aimed to increase the number of applicants for the master's program as a way of generating more revenue, an idea presented in the Curriculum and Academic Restructuring Steering committee's plan for the University.
Revenue is created by adding master's students because they are required to pay tuition. Ph.D. students, on the other hand, are paid stipends by the University. In an e-mail to the Justice, Freeze said that applications for master's and certificate programs within GSAS had jumped an "astronomical 36 percent" over last year.
The entering class of master's and certificate students rose from 200 last year to 255 this year, according to Freeze. Because of the jump in applications, Freeze wrote, "GSAS became more, not less, selective in admissions, with a substantial improvement in quantitative markers such as GPA and GRE scores."
Freeze said that this jump in admissions of master's and certificate students accounted for about two-thirds of the improvement in the GSAS budget, which "went from a deficit of $1.7 million last year to a positive $300,000 this year," wrote Freeze. At the faculty meeting, Freeze said that, in keeping with the recommendations of the CARS committee, the number of admitted Ph.D. students had been cut, but the stipends paid to those students increased, which increased the percentage of students offered admission who accepted.
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