Everyone wants to be elite. Although the road to such status is a long one for higher education institutions, lined with successful students and an all-star faculty, the truth is the elite schools become famous by doing one thing in particular: rejecting people.
The harder a school is to get accepted to, the more people who long to get in. Exclusivity is what creates institutions packed with the cream of the crop and the reputations to go along with them. So it is of little wonder that this university, one that has worked hard to become recognized as a top tier public university, has long held the goal of decreasing enrollment. After all, fewer admitted students means more resources per student, a better education and thus a more elite school.
Administrators have the burden of decreasing admitted students by more than 6 percent before 2016. Such a decrease would cause overall enrollment to decline by 2,232. And yet even though the Strategic Plan as well as administrators have advocated for a yield in enrollment, freshman enrollment this year increased by 7.5 percent.
Essentially, clamping down on enrollment is an attempt to shore up costs and provide a quality education for each student. By decreasing admitted students, administrators would be able to prevent overcrowded classrooms and over-demand on facilities. But it is safe to say there is more to this plan than just budgetary woes.
Although recent budget reductions have no doubt strained the university’s ability to provide for each individual student, this is an institution that prides itself on numbers. Rankings and comparative studies to our peer institutions dominate much of the rhetoric surrounding the university. They are mentioned in university literature and touted by administrators. And the only way a land-grant university like this one can compete on the same playing field as Harvard or Yale is through elitism in the form of rejection letters. After all, this university accepts about 40 percent of its applicants whereas Harvard accepts just below 8 percent.
But this university has a fine line to walk. Although there is much talk about our status academically, this is also a school that prides itself on accessibility. The tuition freeze that will end next semester was part of a movement to ensure this university remained accessible to average Marylanders. While that accessibility was guaranteed to the intelligent, restrictions on admitted students will no doubt shut the door on many with the brains to excel at the university.
There are other ways to increase prestige, and this university is already on the track to accomplish some of those things. The new General Education Plan will be unique in many ways and allow the university to stand out among its peers. More scholarships that target those talented academically as well as in areas like the arts would also attract talented students. Prestige can be achieved with more than the dreaded thin envelope.
Administrators must ensure they balance a need to limit enrollment so as to ensure a quality education but also to maintain the philosophy that has brought this university so much success. With the tuition freeze ending, we must maintain the image of a university that is accessible to even those without power or wealth.
Elitism is a funny thing. It is often despised by those who don’t make the cut and cherished by those on the inside. It’s easy to argue this university should begin to tighten access in order to ensure quality. But before we become too infatuated with glowing rankings and the connotations to the name on our diploma, we must remember this is a university established for the people. And it should remain that way.
