Admission and New Entering Student Profile

Admission Activity

Applications for admission hit a record high at both the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University in fall 2007.  Combining the total number of applications at both CSB and SJU, the increase in applications was an astounding 20% over fall 2006.  In total, Minnesota’s private colleges experienced just over a 9% increase in the number of applications between Tenth day 2006 and Tenth day 2007. 

The combined acceptance rate for both the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University was 74% in fall 2007.  Although this rate has varied little from year to year, it dropped over 10% since fall 2006.  

Yield rates measure the percentage of students accepted for admission who subsequently enroll.  They are a key indicator of admission productivity.  In fall 2007, 45% of all students accepted for admission at CSB/SJU enrolled as new entering students.  Though yield rates have gradually declined at both the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University – largely a function of the colleges’ increasing selectivity – they still significantly exceed the average for all of Minnesota’s private colleges.  The average yield rate at Minnesota’s private colleges in 2006 was 35%.

New Entering Student Characteristics

New entering students make up about one-quarter of all undergraduate students at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University.  In fall 2007, the colleges together enrolled 1,052 new students, the third largest new entering class in the institutions’ history.  Saint Benedict enrolled 14% of young women entering Minnesota private colleges while Saint John’s enrolled 10% of men entering Minnesota private colleges.  Both CSB and SJU are among the top private colleges in the state in the number of new entering students enrolled.

The academic quality of new CSB/SJU students has improved significantly in the last decade.  The typical new student in fall 2007 graduated from high school in the top 20% of his or her high school class, had a cumulative high school grade point average of 3.66, and had a composite ACT score of nearly 26 – each significantly higher than ten years ago.  The average ACT score places new Saint Benedict and Saint John’s students among the top 15% of all test-takers nationally.

Though still predominantly Catholic, the percentage of new students who report being Roman Catholic has declined significantly over the last decade.  In fall 2007, two-thirds of all new students identified themselves as Catholic, compared to nearly three-quarters of students in fall 1997.  A large percentage of students also report a prior family connection to one or both colleges.  In fall 2007, about 45% of all new students indicated that another family member – most often a parent or sibling – attended either CSB or SJU, up from 35% in fall 1997.

Sixty-three new entering American students of color enrolled at CSB/SJU this fall, compared to 62 new students in fall 2006.  Since fall 2002, enrollment of new entering students of color has increased by 47 percent. 

The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University enrolled new students from 25 states and 13 foreign countries this fall.  Students from Minnesota make up 82% of all new first-year students.  Approximately 41% of all CSB/SJU students come from the seven-county Twin Cities metropolitan area.