INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE
A student rides a Onewheel next to Furman Lake
on the first day of class in August 2020.
They looked at our reputation and our student experience – a mix of mentoring, reflection, engaged learning and belonging – and saw their place at Furman.
Arriving amid the global pandemic, the Class of 2024 showed a determination that was matched only by our faculty and staff’s resolve in welcoming them. In the 2020-21 academic year, 519 first-year students joined the Furman family. Recruited almost entirely virtually, 28% are from South Carolina, 70% are from out of state and 2% are from outside the United States.
While these new students came to know Furman in a way that reflected the challenges of the pandemic, they uphold the university’s tradition of academic excellence. They are among the world’s most academically talented, with 44% ranking in the top 10% of their high school graduating class, an average SAT score of 1334 and average ACT score of 30. These students continue Furman’s trend toward increasingly diverse classes, with 23% non-international students of color and 13% first-generation students. In addition to the 519 first-year students, 22 transfer students enrolled in Fall 2020.
EXCELLENCE
We hosted more than 3,100 virtual events, from high school visits and college fairs, campus visits and conversations, to regional showcases, academic department showcases, college counselor lunch and learns, and a college toolkit series for prospective students and parents.
In doing so, we doubled the number of prospective student recruitment events we either participated in or hosted for the 2021 admissions cycle. That led to a record number of both inquiries and applications submitted to Furman for Fall 2021. These efforts benefited from new web features, such as a 360-degree virtual tour site that allowed visitors to learn about and tour key campus locations remotely. The admissions office reopened for campus tours in June 2020 for applicants only and reopened for all prospective students beginning in summer 2021.
(Fall 2020 Entering Class)
APPLICATIONS: 5,194
ACCEPTANCES: 3,389
ENROLLED: 519
African American: 8.36%
Asian: 3.69%
Hispanic: 5.44%
White: 76%
Multiracial or other: 4%
International: 2.5%
2,345 UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
Men 38.8%
Women 61.2%
African American: 6.86%
Asian: 3.21%
Hispanic: 5.51%
White: 77.47%
Multiracial or other: 4.34%
Total diversity: 22.53%
International: 2.6%
Tuition $51,712
Fees $380
Room (average) $8,072
Board (average) $6,050
Total Direct Costs $66,214
48 STATES REPRESENTED
28 COUNTRIES REPRESENTED
122 GRADUATE STUDENTS
AVERAGE CLASS SIZE: 14
STUDENT-TO-FACULTY
RATIO: 9:1
WITH PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS
VISITS AND TRAVEL EVENTS WERE HELD
THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCES
• We incorporated United World College schools into the international student recruitment. This included hosting virtual visits to all 18 UWC schools this year, as well as participating in virtual presentations and events with counselors, students and parents around the globe.
• We hosted virtual workshops, webinars and presentations around the world through Council of International Schools, Education USA centers, as well as with individual high schools and independent counselors.
• We called on our strong international alumni network in China, which assisted with the recruitment and enrollment of international applicants and helped to provide access to a new pool of qualified potential applicants.
The results? Our virtual recruitment efforts powered an 80% increase in international applications for the incoming class.