Centre highlights personal support, alumni success to reach record applications

Centre College is experiencing another year of record applicants, fueled by increasing interest from students beyond the state of Kentucky and a focus on spreading awareness of the College’s reputation for academic excellence and career readiness.

For the first time, Centre has crested 4,000 applications by first-year students with across-the-board increases among both in-state and out-of-state applicants.

“To see that steep increase in interest in Centre bodes well for what lies ahead for us,” said Vice President for Enrollment Management Chad Spencer. “We’re really fortunate that we attract highly qualified, highly accomplished students who want the opportunities, and the challenges Centre offers.”

Centre has also seen a rise in Early Decision enrollment, with more than 150 students this year committing to Centre at the very start of the application process.

“One of the things we’re focusing on is positioning Centre to be the first choice for more applicants,” Spencer said. “To do so, we’ve engaged students earlier in their search process, reaching out to high-achieving high school sophomores to build relationships with them.”

Admission staff have also partnered with coaches in the College’s athletics department to help recruits through the Early Decision process.

Additionally, this admission cycle has introduced more students to the Centre Promise, the College’s pledge to meet the full calculated financial need of all incoming first-year students.

“We’re one of only 75 colleges in the entire country meeting 100% of calculated need,” Spencer said. “Knowing that all our financial aid awards are competitive, fair and consistent is tremendously important for families as they work through the admission process.”

While the college selection process has seen changes in recent years — including students applying to more colleges on average and schools preparing for a reported decline in college-age students (dubbed the demographic cliff) — Spencer believes one key practice transcends these trends.

“What hasn't changed in my 25-plus years of working in admission and financial aid is that relationships matter,” he said. “It's really important for our counseling staff to meet students throughout the country and develop relationships with high school counselors who are on the front lines throughout the college selection process.”

That philosophy informs Centre’s personalized approach to spreading the word about all the College has to offer and making sure students, families and counselors are knowledgeable about the transformational potential of a Centre education.

“This allows them to understand how Centre College might be a great fit for specific reasons depending on the student, be it size, location, the new engineering program or the really powerful outcomes that our alumni realize.”

To connect with prospective students who are increasingly focused on relationship building, Centre alumni, faculty and staff are finding ways to provide the personal touch that marks the Centre experience for the College’s student body.

“This generation of college-bound students is more interested in forming relationships. They want to know the people who are recruiting them. They want to understand who’s going to be teaching them in the classroom,” Spencer said.

Current parents, alumni and senior staff members are penning personal messages to prospective students and the Admission Office is partnering with the Center for Career and Professional Development and the Office of Alumni Engagement on a series of virtual panels that will include faculty members and alumni who are in graduate school or established in their careers to share their Centre stories.

Alumni are also featured speakers during the College’s Centre of Attention Days, sharing their stories with admitted students.

“It’s wonderful to have them talk to parents and students about the Centre difference,” he said. “Why this place? Why does Centre produce really outstanding leaders and highly successful, engaged citizens? They can tell that story very well.”

With nearly 100 students attending Centre of Attention Day in March, a second event is scheduled for April 11. Registration is available online.

Online panels are also scheduled for those unable to visit during Centre of Attention Day, though students from as far away as New Jersey and Texas have been in attendance.

Last year Centre saw a 30% increase in out-of-state applicants and this year, Spencer said, has seen that interest grow even further. He attributes that success to a strategic effort by

his office to build connections in areas experiencing significant population growth, such as Texas and Tennessee.

“We have committed a lot of resources — time, people, recruitment materials and promotional materials — into those areas,” Spencer said. That includes the targeted work of Associate Director of Admission and Development Officer Leslie Sanderfur in the greater Nashville area, and dispatching Admission Counselor Hailey Finch to Texas to build new relationships in the region.

That strategy is fueled by demographic data that indicates the number of college-going students in Kentucky is unlikely to grow over the next few decades.

“It's really encouraging to be in the position we are in right now,” said Spencer, pointing to an increase in enrollment deposits over this same time last year. “But there is still more work to be done before the Class of 2029 arrives on campus.”

Those interested in Centre College can learn more about the school by taking a virtual tour or booking an on-campus visit.