UPEI applications unexpectedly soar by more than 30%

The number of students looking to attend UPEI this fall is up by more than 30 per cent, according to the university.

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RobertGilmour, UPEI's vice-president academic and research, said overall application numbers are up more than 30 per cent while, international applications are up more than 100 per cent, Canadian applications are up six per cent and P.E.I. applications are up three per cent.

"Given the fact that we have historical rates of conversion of applications to actual students showing up at the door, we're very encouraged that we're going to have an increase in ourenrolmentcome this fall," Gilmour said.

He said there are fewer students of university age on P.E.I. each year.

Part of a plan

While the increase is higher than expected,Gilmoursaid the university has been working on plans to increase enrolment for the last three years.

"We're aware of the demographics, and aware of just the financial realities of the university," he said.

"So there's been a renewed emphasis and focus on recruitment particularly international recruitment."

Gilmournoted the best recruiters are students who've had a positive experience atUPEI.

The university'ssmall size and Charlottetown's welcoming and safe community are a big plus for many international students,Gilmoursaid, adding the university receives a high number of applications from China and Nigeria, as well as more than 60 other countries.

New programs in engineering and mathematical and computational sciences are also drawing in new recruits, he added.

"These are skill sets that will translate almost directly into employment,"Gilmoursaid.

"We were pleasantly surprised," by the number of domestic applications, he said, crediting the highvisibilityof UPEI'snew programs.

UPEIhas also maintained some of the lowest tuition and fees in Canada,Gilmouradded.

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'Welcome nightmare'

So how does the university prepare for a big bump in students?

"It's a very welcome nightmare! When does a dream become a nightmare?"Gilmour said.

"We wouldn't go outand recruit more students if we couldn'taccommodatethem," he said, adding the university is planning more courses and instructors, as wellas some larger class sizes.

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