graduate school report 2 - university of washington

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2

Discover what’s next. It’s the Washington Way.

Graduate School ReportApplications, Acceptance Rates, and Enrollment

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Table of Contents

InTRoduCTIon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

ExECuTIvE SummARy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

ApplICATIonS / dEmAnd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Applications / demand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Trends in Applications / Demand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Master’s Degree Applications: UW Seattle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Doctoral Degree Applications: UW Seattle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

UW Bothell and UW Tacoma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Professional Degree Applications - DDS, JD, MD and PharmD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2010 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Trends in Applications, 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Who Is Applying: previous Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

ACCEpTAnCE RATES And yIEld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Acceptance Rates by College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21


yield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Yield Rates by College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25


EnRollmEnT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

UW Seattle, Autumn Quarter Enrollment Growth by Level and College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Trends: UW Bothell and UW Tacoma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

dATA SouRCES And mEThodS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Introduction

What are the key issues and definitions?

demand-

How many people apply for graduate programs at the University of Washington? What do they want to study? We define demand as applications to the UW .

Acceptance Rates-

How rigorous are we? A 25 percent acceptance rate means that a unit accepts 25 percent of all applicants and rejects 75 percent .

yield-

How successful are we in enrolling the people we admit? A 50 percent "yield" means that half of the students we admit actually attend the UW; half do not .

Enrollment-

Which colleges and schools are growing? Which are not?

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Graduate and professional Student Enrollment

Aerospace companies need more engineers . Health care needs more nurses and therapists . Computer

software companies are recruiting developers from other countries because the United States isn’t

producing enough highly-skilled workers . Bioengineering faces a 72 percent job growth rate over the next

10 years, according to the U .S . Bureau of Labor Statistics .

Teachers and principals are eyeing retirement, which will leave shortages in classrooms . Within the next

five years, the majority of UW faculty will be older than 62 . Who will take their places? Who are the next

generation of thinkers who will solve our problems and create new fields?

The lack of well-educated, innovative workers threatens our nation’s productivity – our competitive edge

in the global economy . Add to that an increased need for those providing social services and education –

things our community needs to survive and thrive . The UW plays an important role in this . Which graduate

programs we grow and how many students we admit will determine the supply of workers who fuel our

economy and make our communities better places to live .

To plan for our future, we need first to consider carefully how many people are applying to the UW, what

they want to study, how many we admit and how many actually enroll . The information in this report

will help us balance the demands of the marketplace and recovering economy with the aspirations of our

students while fulfilling the University’s mission of preserving, advancing and disseminating knowledge .

Executive Summary

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Demand for our graduate and professional degrees is growing rapidly; we’ve had an increase of 10 percent

in enrollment since 2005 . This report examines the demand for UW graduate and professional programs,

how selective we are in admitting students, how successful we are in enrolling those we admit and which

colleges and schools are growing and which ones are not .

Applications

Demand for advanced training is growing in a wide variety of fields to meet the needs of industry, non-

profit organizations, government agencies, and the community at large .

ff As measured by applications for graduate study, demand has risen 38 percent since 2001 and

21 percent since 2005 .

ff Applications hit new highs for 2010, running about 14 percent ahead of last year at this time .

ff Demand has been consistently high, year after year in Pharmacy, Public Affairs, Public Health, and

Social Work . UW Bothell and UW Tacoma also have seen substantial growth in applications .

ff Several large UW Seattle programs — notably Business, Engineering, and the Sciences Division of Arts &

Sciences — continue to see substantive increases in applications .

ff The creation of new master’s programs has helped boost demand . Since 2005, units have instituted

28 new programs or tracks, accounting for 2,375 additional applications .*

ff Demand is high for several master’s degrees, specifically those in Pharmacy, Medicine, Public Affairs,

Engineering, Public Health and Social Work .

Selectivity

The UW remains a highly selective institution . Master’s acceptance rates run at 49 percent, and doctoral

acceptance rates at 22 percent .

yield

Yield, measured by the percentage of applicants admitted who actually enroll, is 63 percent for master’s

degree programs and 48 percent for doctoral degree programs .

Enrollment

Colleges and programs that have seen significant growth include Engineering, Law, Nursing, Information

and Public Affairs .

* For data on each college, school, and program, refer to the appendix: http://www .grad .washington .edu/about/reports/report2-appendix .pdf .

Applications / demand

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This report focus extensively on UW application trends since 2005 . Some of the key questions guiding us

include:

ff How many applications are there?

ff What’s the overall trend? Because we want to get a sense of trends, we focus on average annual

increases from 2005 to 2009; applications generally rise and fall from year to year, so an average

annual increase provides a good measure of whether a trend exists or not .

ff What’s the application trend for each college or school? Is there potential for growth in some areas?

ff What are the growth trends in applications for doctoral and master’s programs at UW Seattle? In

some units, demand is higher for master’s degrees than for doctoral degrees; in other areas, doctoral

programs have seen growth in demand .

ff What are the growth trends in applications at UW Bothell and UW Tacoma? Although these graduate

programs are not large, they are witnessing substantial growth . Unmet demand at UW Seattle may also

indicate areas for future growth for UW Bothell or UW Tacoma .

ff What’s happening this year in applications? Applications have not yet closed for autumn admission,

but the number of applications is higher than last year — by about 14 percent compared to last year at

this time . Some programs are seeing substantial growth in demand .

ff Where do our applicants come from? What is the pipeline to graduate and professional study at the

UW? Do certain schools, or countries, provide substantial numbers of applicants?

Any analysis of applications – demand – comes with several caveats . These include:

ff Many applicants may not be qualified for admission, so the number of applicants alone should not

guide decisions about growth or lack of growth .

ff Many prospective graduate students apply to five schools or more; while the UW may be the top choice

for many of these applicants, it is probably not the top choice for all of them . So applications, by

themselves, are a somewhat imperfect measure of demand .

ff Our analysis focuses primarily on the applications for admission in 2005 through 2009 . Admissions

for 2010 have not yet closed, so we do not have full data on this year . We will report again, in autumn

2010, on these trends .

For data on each college, school, and program, refer to the appendix: http://www .grad .washington .edu/about/reports/report2-appendix .pdf .

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Applications / demand

Applications/demand for Graduate and professional Education

ff Applications rose 21 percent between 2005 and 2009 .

ff Applications for 2010 (as of July 13, 2010) have risen 14 percent over 2009 .

2009 Applications

ff 29,213 applicants for all UW graduate and professional

programs at all three campuses .

ff UW Seattle: 20,192 applicants for 146 master’s programs

and 87 doctoral programs – a 21 percent increase over

2005 (10,942 master's applications, 9,250 doctoral

applications) .

ff UW Seattle: 8,168 applicants for four professional degrees -

Dentistry, Law, Medicine and Pharmacy .

ff UW Bothell: 374 applicants for five master’s programs –

a 121 percent increase over 2005 .

ff UW Tacoma: 479 applicants for six master’s programs –

a 78 percent increase over 2005 .

* Figures include all three campuses (Seattle, Bothell and Tacoma) .

FIGuRE 2

FIGuRE 1

uW Applicants 2009*

Doctoral44%

Masterʼs56%

uW Applicants, master’s and doctoral*

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

9,729

7,668

2005

10,765

8,268

2006

10,742

8,795

2007

10,832

8,733

2008

11,795

9,250

2009

NUMBER OF APPLICANTS

Masterʼs Doctoral

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Trends in Applications / demand

Demand grew steadily from 2005 to 2009 . This chart shows:

ff Average annual growth of applications for each college (e .g ., Public Affairs saw an average of about 15 percent

increase per year in applications, thus indicating a persistent growth in demand) .

ff Range: Numbers in parenthesis refer to change in number of applicants from 2005 to 2009 (e .g ., Education had

680 applications in 2005 and 916 in 2009) .

ff Declines: Some units report that declining application rates were offset by rising test scores among those who

did apply . For these, the applicant pool may be smaller – but stronger - than before .

ff Graph does not include DDS, JD, MD, and PharmD . See page 15 for those figures .

*The College of the Environment has only existed since Autumn 2009 . However, the six departments that comprise the college existed longer .The data for those departments have been combined and presented as the College of the Environment throughout this report .** Atmospheric Sciences and Earth and Space Sciences moved from A&S-Sciences to the College of the Environment in 2009 .***A list of programs that are categorized as Interdisciplinary Graduate School Programs is at the end of this report .

FIGuRE 3

-20% -15% -10% -5% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Pharmacy (82-175)

Public Affairs (379-645)

Public Health (908-1,456)

Social Work (545-747)

Medicine (1,167-1,742)

Law (269-350)

Education (680-916)

Information School (526-672)

Built Environments (793-988)

Nursing (335-342)

Average Annual

Engineering (2,485-2,927)

Business (1,445-1,666)

A&S - Sciences** (2,346-2,687)

Interdisciplinary Graduate School Programs*** (809-910)

A&S - Humanities (1,136-1,219)

5%

3%

2%

4%

6%

4%

9%

5%

0%

7%

7%

11%

6%

24%

15%

13%

9%

Environment* (745-730)

A&S - Arts (814-780)

A&S - Social Sciences (1,813-1,588)

Dentistry (265-195)

0%

-3%

-7%

PERCENT GROWTH

Average Annual Application Growth by College, 2005-2009

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master’s degree Applications: uW Seattle

Demand varies by degree program . This chart shows growth in applications for master’s degrees .

ff Percentages (e .g ., Engineering, 13 percent) show the average annual growth in applications . Across the five years,

2005-2009, Engineering saw an average of 13 percent increase in applications each year .

ff To provide context, we also report the range of change between 2005 and 2009 (e .g ., Engineering had 936

applications for its master’s programs in 2005 and 1,520 in 2009) .

ff Declines in applications are most pronounced in units that were in a state of transition (e .g ., notably Arts &

Sciences-Sciences) . During this period, two departments moved (from Arts & Sciences-Sciences) into the new

College of the Environment .

*The College of the Environment has only existed since Autumn 2009 . However, the six departments that comprise the college existed longer .The data for those departments have been combined and presented as the College of the Environment throughout this report .** Atmospheric Sciences and Earth and Space Sciences, moved from A&S-Sciences to the College of the Environment in 2009 .*** The Pharmacy master’s (fee-based) program began in 2008 . Application growth is for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 academic years .

FIGuRE 4

Average Annual Application Growth, 2005-2009, master’s

-40% -30% -20% -10% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Pharmacy*** (36-33)


Public Health (657-1,080)


Medicine (131-440)

Law (263-341)

Education (501-672)



Nursing (301-107)

Average Annual

Engineering (936-1,520)

Business (1,095-1,216)

A&S - Sciences** (489-413)

Interdisciplinary Graduate School Programs (101-139)

A&S - Humanities (846-697)

5%

10%

-5%

-2%

6%

3%

8%

13%

-5%

7%

7%

41%

-10%

-8%

13%

14%

9%


A&S - Arts (660-611)

A&S - Social Sciences (723-531)

Dentistry (254-184)

-1%

-7%

-7%

PERCENT GROWTH

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doctoral degree Applications: uW Seattle

Demand varies by degree program . This chart shows growth in applications for doctoral degrees .

ff Percentages (e .g ., Public Health, 11 percent) show the average annual growth in applications . Across the five

years, 2005-2009, Public Health saw an average of 11 percent increase in applications each year .

ff To provide context, we also report the range of change between 2005 and 2009 (e .g ., Public Health had 251

applications for its doctoral programs in 2005 and 376 in 2009) .

ff The Public Affairs doctoral program was new during this period and witnessed some declines, but its 2010

applications are up significantly .

ff Graph does not include DDS, JD, MD, and PharmD . See page 15 for those figures .

*The College of the Environment has only existed since Autumn 2009 . However, the six departments that comprise the college existed longer .The data for those departments have been combined and presented as the College of the Environment throughout this report .** Atmospheric Sciences and Earth and Space Sciences, moved from A&S-Sciences to the College of the Environment . ***The Public Affairs doctoral program began in 2006 .

FIGuRE 5

Average Annual Application Growth, 2005-2009, doctoral

-60% -40% -20% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Pharmacy (82-142)

Public Affairs*** (47-37)

Public Health (251-376)

Social Work (46-60)

Medicine (1,036-1,302)

Law (6-9)

Education (179-244)



Nursing (34-235)

Average Annual


Business (350-450)

A&S - Sciences** (1,857-2,274)



4%

2%

17%

5%

37%

7%

10%

0%

7%

7%

99%

6%

67%

16%

-3%

11%

15%


A&S - Arts (154-169)

A&S - Social Sciences (1,090-1,057)

Dentistry (11-11)

3%

-1%

1%

PERCENT GROWTH

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uW Bothell and uW Tacoma

Both UW Bothell and UW Tacoma were founded in 1990 . Each instituted master’s programs in 1992 and has added

additional programs since then . Figures below are for master's programs only .

ff Percentages show the average annual growth in applications (e .g ., UW Bothell’s Interdisciplinary Arts and

Sciences Program has seen a 24 percent average annual increase in applications; UW Tacoma’s Interdisciplinary

Arts and Sciences Program has seen a 14 percent average annual increase in applications) .

ff To provide context, we also report the range of change between 2005 and 2009 (e .g ., UW Bothell Education had

31 applicants in 2005 and 109 in 2009) .

*Computing and Software Systems program was founded in 2009 .

FIGuRE 6

FIGuRE 7

-20% -15% -10% -5% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

Nursing (29-30)

Business (72-126)

Computing and Software Systems* (0-40)

Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences (37-69)

Education (31-109)

Average Annual

19%

0%

38%

24%

12%

22%

PERCENT GROWTH

-25% -20% -15% -10% -5% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

Nursing (45-50)

Business (48-30)

Education (54-168)


Institute of Technology (25-46)


-9%

45%

27%

14%

3%

32%

18%Average Annual

PERCENT GROWTH

uW Tacoma, Average Annual Application Growth, 2005-2009

uW Bothell, Average Annual Application Growth, 2005-2009

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*Data for Dentistry span 2006 to 2010, not 2005 to 2009 .

professional degree Applications - ddS, Jd, md and pharmd

Percentages show the average annual growth in applications .

For example:

ff The Doctor of Dental Surgery program has seen a 4 percent average annual increase in applications .

ff To provide context, we also report the range of change between 2005 and 2009 (e .g ., Medicine had 3,224

applicants in 2005 and 4,266 in 2009) .

FIGuRE 8

professional degrees, Average Annual Application Growth, 2005-2009

-5% 0% 5% 10%

4%Dentistry-DDS* (922-1,027)

-1% Pharmacy-PharmD (424-396)

Medicine-MD (3,224-4,266) 8%

0% Law-JD (2,469-2,448)

PERCENT GROWTH

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2010 Applications

2010 Trends

Compared to this time last year, applications are up by about 14 percent .

Figure 9 shows:

ff The number of applicants for the 2008-09 academic year as of July 13, 2008, in the light purple column .

ff The number of applicants for the 2009-10 academic year as of July 12, 2009, in the dark purple column .

ff The number of applicants, thus far, for 2010-11 academic year as of July 11, 2010, in the gold column .

For example:

ff For the 2008-09 application cycle, Arts & Sciences - Social Sciences had 1,745 applicants as of July 13; for the

2009-10 application cycle it had 1,609 applications as of July 12 . Thus far this year, it has 1,754 applicants .

Note: Application numbers represent a “snapshot” of mid-cycle admissions data as of July 13, 2008, July 12, 2009,

and July 11, 2010 . These data cannot be accurately compared to data in figures 3-7 since not all applications were

received as of the snapshot and decisions to defer or withdraw applications had, in many cases, not been made as of

the snapshot dates .

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*The College of the Environment has only existed since Autumn 2009 . However, the six departments that comprise the college existed longer .The data for those departments have been combined and presented as the College of the Environment throughout this report . The College of theEnvironment is comprised of departments that were part of A&S - Sciences, Ocean & Fishery Sciences, and the College of Forest Resources .

Note: Applications have not yet closed for 2010 .

For data on each college, school and program, refer to the appendix: http://www .grad .washington .edu/about/reports/report2-appendix .pdf .

FIGuRE 9

Trends in Applications, 2010

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000

Social Work

Public Health

Public Affairs

Pharmacy

Nursing

Medicine

Law

Interdisciplinary Programs

Information School

Environment*

Engineering

Education

Dentistry

Business

Built Environments

A&S - Social Sciences

A&S - Sciences

A&S - Humanities

A&S - Arts

Total applications received, 2008-09 cycle as of July 13, 2008

921805816

1,2301,2161,313

2,8312,917

3,1441,745

1,6091,754

900979

1,1981,331

1,1131,645

197199158

787828833

3,2793,819

4,291667732838

584707811912898935

359396407

1,5041,776

2,044550

387503

157176197

547653724

1,1701,4871,610

870753909

Total applications received, 2009-10 cycle as of July 12, 2009Total applications received, 2010-11 cycle as of July 11, 2010

TOTAL APPLICATIONS RECEIVED

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Who Is Applying: previous Schools

*Applications are coded based on last school attended .

FIGuRE 10

Total Applications, Top 40 previous Schools / Countries*, 2005-2009

0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000

University of Washington

India

China

Western Washington University

University of California, Berkeley

Taiwan

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Washington State University

University of California, Los Angeles

Seattle University

Brigham Young University

Korea

University of Colorado, Boulder

University of California, Davis

University of California, San Diego

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Japan

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

University of Texas, Austin

University of Oregon

2,263

1,311

1,299

2,699

5,113

10,507

819

974

784

763

712

2,260

690

631

638

855

604

683

646

656

Canada

United Kingdom

Portland State University

University of Arizona

The Evergreen State College

Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Stanford University

University of Utah

Seattle Pacific University

Pacific Lutheran University

Arizona State University

Cornell University

New York UniversityUniversity of California, Santa Barbara

The Ohio State University

Oregon State University

Central Washington University

Iran

University of Southern California

University of California, Santa Cruz

602

547

562

538

529

559

493

499

474

457

457

542

444

415

416

494

399

435

418

430

NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS RECEIVED, 2005-2009

24%of graduate applications from the top 40 schools come from the university of Washington .

29%of graduate applications come from Asian countries, most notably China .

1/3of graduate applications come from other research intensive public institutions .

96,577total applicationsfrom 2005-2009

Acceptance Rate How rigorous are we? A 25 percent acceptance rate means that a unit accepts 25 percent of all applicants and rejects 75 percent .

yield How successful are we in enrolling the people we admit? A 50 percent “yield” rate means that half of the students we admit actually attend the UW; half do not .

Acceptance Rates 49 percent of master’s applicants 22 percent of doctoral applicants

yield About 63 percent of master’s applicants, who are accepted, enroll . About 48 percent of doctoral applicants, who are accepted, enroll .

Trend No substantial change in these rates over the last five years .

Acceptance Rates and yield


- 20 -

Acceptance Rates

Why Acceptance Rates Change

ff year to year fluctuations should be expected . In smaller programs, a five- or seven- percentage point

increase, for example, may result from accepting just 20 or 30 more students compared to earlier years .

ff new programs, or reconfigured programs, draw more applicants .

ff The number of faculty declines (or rises), with an impact on advising, number of courses offered, etc .

ff more (or less) space – labs, classrooms, etc .

ff The quality of applicants may rise or drop .

ff Funding (teaching assistantships, research assistantships) increases or decreases .

ff Guesswork about yields . Units regularly admit more students than they expect will actually enroll; that

estimate about yield is often imprecise .

ff decline in yield . Units with declining yield rates may accept more students to offset potential enrollment

declines .

*Figure includes all three campuses .

FIGuRE 11

Acceptance Rates, 2005-2009*

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%51%

27%

2005

47%

25%

2006

47%

23%

2007

51%

25%

2008

49%

22%

2009

Masterʼs Doctoral

PERCENT OF ACCEPTED APPLICANTS

- 21 -

Acceptance Rates by College

Acceptance rates, although steady overall, vary greatly across campus . Figure 12 shows the change in acceptance

rates between 2005 and 2009 . A decline in acceptance rates means that a unit has become more selective (e .g ., it

has accepted proportionately fewer applicants than before) . Remember: Fluctuations in acceptance rates are the

norm and reflect a wide variety of factors (see page 20) .

For example:

ff Education had a master’s acceptance rate of 65 in 2005 and 69 in 2009 – a 4 percentage point increase .

ff Engineering had a doctoral acceptance rate of 58 in 2005 and 48 in 2009 – a 9 .9 percentage point decrease .

ff Nursing had a master’s acceptance rate of 66 percent in 2005 and 55 percent in 2006 – a 10 .6 percentage point

decrease .

ff Social Work had a doctoral acceptance rate of 24 percent in 2005 and 18 percent in 2009 – a 5 .6 percentage

point decrease .

- 22 -

*Atmospheric Sciences and Earth and Space Sciences moved from A&S-Sciences to the College of the Environment in 2009 .**The College of the Environment has only existed since Autumn 2009 . However, the six departments that comprise the college existed longer . The data for those departments have been combined and presented as the College of the Environment throughout this report .***The Pharmacy master’s (fee-based) program began in 2008 . Acceptance rate change is for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 academic years .****The PhD in Public Affairs program began in 2006 . These data span 2006 to 2009 .

FIGuRE 12

See ranges presented in brackets for change over time . Percentage ranges are rounded to the nearest whole number .

percentage point Change in Acceptance Rate by College, 2005-2009

-40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40

Average Annual

Social Work

Public Health

Public Affairs****

Pharmacy***

Nursing

Medicine

Law


Information School

Environment**

Engineering

Education

Dentistry

Business

Built Environments


A&S - Sciences*

A&S - Humanities

A&S - Arts

More Selective | Less SelectiveMasterʼsDoctoral

-3.0-11.7

0.9-11.4

24.4-8.6

11.0-2.9

-6.6-2.1

-11.6-2.8

5.6-27.3

4.09.4

-9.93.0

6.03.8

-1.3-1.6

-33.6-12.6

-9.0-16.7

-13.7-7.0

-10.6-22.0

-12.1-8.4

-19.86.1

-14.8-12.5

-7.4-5.6

-2.0-5.0

(24-21%)(39-27%)

(25-26%)(29-17%)

(26-51%)(27-18%)

(40-51%)(22-19%)

(44-37%)(25-23%)

(59-48%)(9-6%)

(12-17%)(73-46%)

(65-69%)(48-57%)

(58-48%)(24-27%)

(32-38%)(28-32%)

(61-60%)(22-21%)

(78-45%)(39-26%)

(84-75%)(83-66%)

(50-36%)(24-17%)

(66-55%)(74-52%)

(100-88%)(18-10%)

(82-63%)(13-19%)

(57-42%)(39-27%)

(54-46%)(24-18%)

(51-49%)(27-22%)

PERCENTAGE POINT CHANGE

- 23 -


Figures 13 and 14 show the change in master’s program acceptance rates between 2005 and 2009 at UW Bothell and

UW Tacoma .

For example:

ff Business at UW Bothell had a 3 .6 percentage point decrease in acceptance rates . In 2005, its acceptance rate was

75 percent; in 2009 it was 71 percent .

ff Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at UW Tacoma had an acceptance rate of 76 percent in 2005 and 86 percent in

2009 – a 9 .5 percentage point increase .


FIGuRE 13

FIGuRE 14

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20

Nursing (100-100%)

Business (75-71%)

Computing and Software Systems*

Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences (84-81%)

Education (94-78%)

UW Bothell Average Annual

-3.6

0.0

-15.5

-2.6

0.0

-5.5

More Selective | Less Selective


-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20

Nursing (98-84%)

Business (67-70%)

Education (96-98%)


Institute of Technology (100-87%)

Social Work (71-49%)

3.3

1.3

-13.0

9.5

-13.8

-21.4

-6.0 UW Tacoma Average Annual

More Selective | Less Selective


uW Tacoma, percentage point Change in Acceptance Rate, 2005-2009

uW Bothell, percentage point Change in Acceptance Rate, 2005-2009

- 24 -

yield

Applicants Who Enroll at the uW

A review of forms submitted by applicants who chose to enroll elsewhere shows:

ff Fit is the single most important factor in selecting a school . Applicants use the term “fit” in many ways – the

atmosphere of a program, or city, or even whether the UW is considered too far from home and family .

ff Finances are the second most prominent reason given for not enrolling at the UW: financial circumstances, lack

of financial support, or better financial support at another school .

See the appendix for more information on yield rates .

*Figure includes all three campuses .

FIGuRE 15

40%

45%

50%

55%

60%

65%

63%

48%

2005

59%

49%

2006

63%

48%

2007

63%

46%

2008

63%

48%

2009

Masterʼs Doctoral

PERCENTAGE OF ACCEPTED APPLICANTS WHO ENROLL

yield Rates*

- 25 -

yield Rates by College

Yield rates vary across programs and colleges . Figure 16 shows the yield rate by college .

For example:

ff The Humanities Division of Arts & Sciences saw a 4 .9 percentage point increase in yield rates for its master’s

program between 2005 and 2009 . In 2005, 51 percent of those accepted actually enrolled; in 2009, 56 percent

of those accepted actually enrolled .

ff Education saw a 9 percentage point decrease in yield rates between 2005 and 2009 for its doctoral programs . In

2005, 64 percent of those accepted actually enrolled; in 2009, 55 percent of those accepted actually enrolled .

ff Public Health had an 8 .1 percentage point increase in yield rates between 2005 and 2009 for its doctoral

programs . In 2005, the yield was 43 percent; in 2009, it was 51 percent .

ff The Information School saw an 11 .2 percentage point decrease in its yield rate for master’s students between

2005 and 2009 . In 2005, the yield was 69 percent; in 2009, it was 58 percent .

Relatively small numbers can drive yield rate changes for many programs .

- 26 -

*Atmospheric Sciences and Earth and Space Sciences moved from A&S-Sciences to the College of the Environment in 2009 .**The College of the Environment has only existed since Autumn 2009 . However, the six departments that comprise the college existed longer .The data for those departments have been combined and presented as the College of the Environment throughout this report .***The Pharmacy master’s (fee-based) program began in 2008 . Acceptance rate change is for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 academic years .

See ranges presented in brackets for change over time . Percentage ranges are rounded to the nearest whole number .

FIGuRE 16

percentage point Change in yield Rate by College, 2005-2009

-40% -30% -20% -10% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Average Annual

Social Work

Public Health

Public Affairs

Pharmacy

Nursing

Medicine

Law


Information School

Environment

Engineering

Education

Dentistry

Business

Built Environments

A/S - Social Sciences

A/S - Sciences

A/S - Humanities

A/S - Arts

Less Yield | More YieldMasterʼsDoctoral

3.0-5.5

4.9-4.0

-14.4-1.9

9.12.1

4.0-25.0

-1.214.8

-8.7-15.0

2.7-9.0

1.30.1

-1.8-0.8

-11.221.4

11.20.3

-0.9-13.3

-2.2-8.1

26.40.0

-20.725.7

-1.5-23.8

-9.78.1

-5.50.0

00

(51-54%)(53-48%)

(51-56%)(37-33%)

(57-43%)(39-37%)

(48-57%)(38-40%)

(42-46%)(100-75%)

(71-70%)(47-62%)

(90-81%)(75-60%)

(71-73%)(64-55%)

(59-60%)(45-45%)

(65-63%)(53-52%)

(69-58%)(50-71%)

(47-58%)(64-64%)

(55-54%)(80-67%)

(77-75%)(52-44%)

(70-97%)(76-76%)

(100-79%)(60-86%)

(53-51%)(67-43%)

(68-58%)(43-52%)

(69-63%)(64-64%)

(63-63%)(48-48%)


- 27 -


Yield rates vary across programs at UW Bothell and UW Tacoma, as well . These figures show changes in yield rates

for master’s applicants .

For example:

ff Nursing at UW Bothell saw a 17 .4 percentage point increase in yield rates between 2005 and 2009 . In 2005, 79

percent of those accepted actually enrolled; in 2009, 97 percent of those accepted actually enrolled .

ff The Institute of Technology at UW Tacoma saw a 15 percentage point decrease in yield rates between 2005 and

2009 . In 2005, 80 percent of those accepted actually enrolled; in 2009, 65 percent of those accepted actually

enrolled .


FIGuRE 17

FIGuRE 18

uW Tacoma, percentage point Change in yield Rate, 2005-2009

uW Bothell, percentage point Change in yield Rate, 2005-2009

-20 -10 0 10 20

Nursing (79-97%)

Business (76-76%)

Computing and Software Systems*


Education (100-98%)


-0.4

0.0

-2.4

14.4

17.4

6.4

Less Yield | More Yield


-30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30

Nursing (86-98%)

Business (88-86%)

Education (88-90%)


Institute of Technology (80-65%)

Social Work (74-69%)

-1.8

1.8

-15.0

14.1

11.3

-5.1

1.0UW Tacoma Average Annual

Less Yield | More Yield


Enrollment

Enrollment rates are the product of application trends, acceptance rates and yield rates . Enrollment growth has varied greatly across the uW . Enrollment in graduate and professional degree programs has increased by 10 percent at the uW since 2005 .

Enrollment rates, or total enrollment, are determined by the number of new and returning students enrolled in a unit .


- 29 -

Trends

Change in total enrollment varies by degree . Figure 19 shows the average annual growth in enrollment from 2005 to

2009:

ff The annual average percentage growth in enrollment was greatest in Law, Nursing, Pharmacy and Public Affairs .

ff Large programs, such as Engineering, also saw substantial enrollment growth .

“Range” shows the change in number of total enrollees from 2005 to 2009 (e .g ., Engineering had 1,349 enrollees in

2005 and 1,551 in 2009) . All data are averaged across the number of years the college has existed if the college is

less than five years old . Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number .

*The College of the Environment has only existed since Autumn 2009 . However, the six departments that comprise the college existed longer . The data for those departments have been combined and presented as the College of the Environment throughout this report .** Atmospheric Sciences and Earth and Space Sciences moved from A&S-Sciences to the College of the Environment in 2009 .

FIGuRE 19

-15% -10% -5% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20%

Pharmacy (65-116)


Public Health (743-759)


Medicine (703-735)

Law (167-204)

Education (756-815)



Nursing (366-438)

Average Annual


Business (788-854)

A&S - Sciences** (1,101-964)



2%

-1%

1%

-3%

1%

2%

2%

4%

8%

4%

5%

1%

5%

18%

5%

1%

1%


A&S - Arts (321-320)

A&S - Social Sciences (830-802)

Dentistry (71-75)

0%

-1%

2%

PERCENT GROWTH

uW Seattle, Average Autumn Quarter Total Enrollment Growth by College, 2005-2009

- 30 -

uW Seattle, Autumn Quarter Enrollment Growth by level and College

Total enrollment grows at different rates across programs . Figure 20 shows rates by college, in alphabetical order .

To provide context, we also report the range of change between 2005 and 2009 (e .g ., Business had 704 master's

students and 84 doctoral students in 2005; it had 772 master's students and 82 doctoral students in 2009) .

For example:

ff Business saw an average annual enrollment increase of 2 percent between 2005 and 2009 for its MBA program .

In 2005, its total enrollment was 704 students; in 2009, 772 were enrolled .

ff Engineering doctoral programs had a similar increase of 2 percent . In 2005, 690 students were enrolled in

Engineering; in 2009, 760 were enrolled .

ff Declines are most pronounced in units that were in the state of transition (e .g ., Arts & Sciences-Sciences) . During

this period, some units in Arts & Sciences began to move into the new College of the Environment .

ff Nursing saw an average annual enrollment increase of 28 percent between 2005 and 2009 in doctoral students .

In 2005, total enrollment was 78 students; in 2009, 206 were enrolled .

ff Interdisciplinary Graduate School Programs saw an average annual enrollment decrease of 1 percent between

2005 and 2009 for its doctoral programs . In 2005, 363 students were enrolled in Interdisciplinary Programs; in

2009, 343 were enrolled .

- 31 -

*The College of the Environment has only existed since Autumn 2009 . However, the six departments that comprise the college existed longer . The data for those departments have been combined and presented as the College of the Environment throughout this report .** Atmospheric Sciences and Earth and Space Sciences moved from A&S-Sciences to the College of the Environment in 2009 . *** The Pharmacy master’s (fee-based) program began in 2008 . Enrollment growth is for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 academic years .

FIGuRE 20

See ranges presented in brackets for change over time . Percent ranges are rounded to the nearest whole number .

uW Seattle, Average Autumn Quarter Total Enrollment Growth by level and College, 2005-2009

-20% -10% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Social Work

Public Health

Public Affairs

Pharmacy***

Nursing

Medicine

Law


Information School

Environment*

Engineering

Education

Dentistry

Business

Built Environments


A&S - Sciences**

A&S - Humanities

A&S - Arts

MasterʼsDoctoral

-2%5%

-3%7%

0%-4%

-4%1%

1%25%

2%-1%

2%0%

3%2%

5%2%

-1%15%

4%11%

3%-1%

6%-5%

11%-1%

-5%28%

68%2%

4%76%

1%0%

-2%2%

(208-188)(113-132)

(257-223)(183-238)

(189-181)(912-783)

(331-280)(499-522)

(349-356)(9-20)

(704-772)(84-82)

(59-64)(12-11)

(468-506)(288-309)

(659-791)(690-760)

(277-268)(256-422)

(421-487)(27-40)

(65-74)(363-343)

(153-193)(14-11)

(134-191)(569-544)

(288-232)(78-206)

(28-47)(64-69)

(349-401)(4-19)

(497-516)(246-243)

(362-384)(44-40)

PERCENT GROWTH

- 32 -

Trends: uW Bothell and uW Tacoma

Enrollment has grown at different rates at UW Bothell and UW Tacoma . These figures show enrollment rates for each

of those campuses .

For example:

ff The Education program at UW Bothell saw an average annual graduate enrollment increase of 25 percent between

2005 and 2009 . In 2005, its total enrollment was 62 students; in 2009, 143 were enrolled .

ff Business at UW Tacoma saw an average annual graduate enrollment decrease of 5 percent between 2005 and

2009 . In 2005, 61 students were enrolled in Business; in 2009, 49 were enrolled .


FIGuRE 21

FIGuRE 22

uW Tacoma, Average Autumn Quarter Enrollment Growth, 2005-2009

uW Bothell, Average Autumn Quarter Enrollment Growth, 2005-2009

-20% -15% -10% -5% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Nursing (39-78)

Business (80-105)

Computing and Software Systems* (28)


Education (62-143)


8%

0%

25%

21%

20%

19%

PERCENT GROWTH

-20% -15% -10% -5% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Nursing (75-82)

Business (61-49)

Education (83-203)


Institute of Technology (55-35)


-5%

26%

-10%

7%

3%

6%

7%UW Tacoma Average Annual

PERCENT GROWTH

data Sources and methods

- 34 -

ff data Sources: Admissions data were derived from the UW SDB snapshot of UW SDB data . Total and new

enrollment data were derived from the quarterly census day (10th day) snapshots of the UW SDB database

captured in the UWSDB sr-mini-master table .

ff Admissions application data correspond to the number of applications submitted, not the number of students

who submitted applications . For example, if an applicant submits applications to three programs during the

report period, three applications are counted . Applicants may submit applications to several programs for a

given academic quarter, but can only be admitted to one .

ff Application counts include all submitted applications except withdrawn, deferred and returning (ncr_code 2)

applications . Applicants and students in tuition-exempt categories (e .g . Washington employees) are included .

ff Each admissions report year includes summer through spring quarter applications, as indicated by the

applicant’s chosen quarter/year of admission . For example, 2009 includes summer quarter 2008 through spring

quarter 2009 .

ff Admissions selectivity is defined as the ratio of offers to applications submitted (offers/applications) . Offers are

derived by applications which have been coded with application status values >=10 .

ff Admissions yield is defined as the ratio of new enrollees to offers (new/offers) . New status is denoted by

applications coded with application status = 12 .

ff Previous institution for applicants is derived from the “last school code” which corresponds to the most recent

four-year institution reported by the applicant .

ff Master's students are identified as those at degree level two; doctoral students include those coded in degree

levels three or four . Instructions were clarified for the classification of applications as master's or doctoral in

February, 2009 . This clarification may have the effect of producing an increase in doctoral applications relative to

master's as of the change and may be visible in figures that depict growth rates in selectivity and yield . Given that

this change was late in the report range, the effect should be minimal .

ff For total and new enrollment, only students registered in graduate degree programs on census day are counted .

On-leave students, graduate non-matriculated, students enrolled for graduate certificates, students enrolled for

zero credits (auditing) and students who registered but withdrew prior to census day are excluded .

ff Overall application and student enrollment counts are by application and head count respectively . However

college breakouts count formal concurrent applications and students in each school/college they have a major .

See page 35 for a list of concurrent programs .

- 35 -

Interdisciplinary Graduate School programs

ff Biology Teaching Group

ff Biomolecular Structure and Design

ff Graduate Visiting

ff Individual Ph .D . Program

ff Molecular and Cellular Biology

ff Museology

ff Near and Middle Eastern Studies Group

ff Neurobiology and Behavior

ff Quantitative Ecology and Resource Management

ff Special Program Graduate Student

ff Urban Design and Planning Group

Concurrent programs (double Counted)

ff Bioengineering

ff Dentistry / Oral Biology Concurrent

ff Global Health

ff Health Services / Business Administration Concurrent

ff International Studies / Business Administration Concurrent

ff International Studies / Health Services Concurrent

ff International Studies / Marine Studies Concurrent

ff International Studies / Public Affairs Concurrent

ff Nursing / CHCS / Health Services

ff Public Affairs / Environmental Health

ff Public Affairs / Forest Resources

ff Public Affairs / Health Services

ff Public Affairs / Health Administration

ff Social Work / Health Services Concurrent

ff Urban Planning / Public Administration

- 36 -

list of new programs

College/Unit Year New Program/Track Began

2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010

Arts & Sciences-humanities

Linguistics x

Arts & Sciences-Sciences

Applied Mathematics x

Physics x

Speech and Hearing Sciences x

Arts & Sciences-Social Sciences

International Studies, Jackson School of x

Built Environments

Architecture x

Urban Design and Planning x

Education, College of

Education x

Engineering, College of

Aeronautics and Astronautics x

Bioengineering (established jointly with the School of Medicine) x

Computer Science and Engineering x

Electrical Engineering x

Industrial and Systems Engineering x

Mechanical Engineering x

Environment, College of

Earth and Space Sciences x

Information School

Information School x

law, School of

Law x

medicine, School of

Global Health (established jointly with the School of Public Health) x

MEDEX Northwest Division of Physician Assistant Studies x

pharmacy, School of

Pharmacy - School of x

public health, School of

Bioengineering x

Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences x

Epidemiology x

Global Health (established jointly with the School of Medicine) x

Health Services x

uW Bothell

Business Administration x

Computing and Software Systems x

Education x

Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences x

uW Tacoma

Social Work x

The Graduate Schooluniversity of Washington

G-1 Communications BuildingBox 353770

Seattle, Washington 98195-3770206 .543 .5900

www .grad .washington .edu

Thanks to administrators, faculty and staff in UW colleges, schools and programs

who assisted with data verification . Thanks to Graduate School staff John Drew,

Ozie Goodwin, Jeff Dietz and Elizabeth Lowry .

Research Lead: Ozie Goodwin

Design: Jeff Dietz

Not printed with state funds .

graduate school report 2 - university of washington

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