Yale will expand undergraduate classes by 100 students beginning with the class of 2029, Scott Strobel and Pericles Lewis, Provost and Dean of Yale College, respectively, announced Tuesday.
Raleigh Adams
Assistant Editor of Campus Life & Administration, The Buckley Beacon
The Yale Office of the Provost and Office of the Dean of Yale College, in a joint online statement, announced on Tuesday their plans to increase undergraduate class sizes by 100 students per academic year starting this fall with the prospective class of 2029.
Per the release, co-written by Dean Pericles Lewis and Provost Scott Strobel, the increase in undergraduate student body size will result in a total of 1,650 students per class. Over time, this growth will bring the total undergraduate population to 6,600. At 6,600 students, the expanded undergraduate population will still be slightly smaller than the current enrollment of 6,749, which remains elevated by COVID-19-related deferrals.
Tuesday’s announcement comes just over ten months after Yale College faced a record-breaking 57,465 applicants for Yale College’s class of 2028, accepting only 2,146 and yielding a historically low acceptance rate of 3.7 percent.
To keep up with the projected growth in students, the university will increase the faculty target size by five additional positions. Yale last increased its faculty size in 2022 with 45 additional positions in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences combined. Four positions will be available in the FAS and one in the SEAS. These positions will be “available to the deans of the FAS and SEAS to address pressing needs and student interest,” Lewis and Strobel co-wrote in their announcement.
The press release also reaffirmed Yale’s commitment to need-blind admissions and meeting 100 percent of demonstrated financial need. The Yale Office of the Provost and Office of the Dean of Yale College expressed hope in the statement that by making such investments, Yale College will be able to advance its strategic plan and welcome more talented students into the experience that will prepare students for leadership and service.
Tuesday’s announcement was also communicated in a university-wide email to the student body and faculty.