The University of Vermont’s Class of 2025 is the largest and academically best-prepared undergraduate cohort in the university’s 230-year history—a testament to UVM’s ascending position among public higher education institutions across the country. More first-year students also hail from other regions of the U.S. than any previous class.

UVM attracted 38% more undergraduate applicants compared to last year, which resulted in more than 25,500 applications, a record high. The previous record was 25,275 in 2015. The new class—made up of 2,932 first-time, first-year undergraduate students—is the largest in UVM’s history.

“Obviously, we are gratified to see increased interest in UVM among high school students and their families as well as those seeking advanced degrees,” said UVM President Suresh Garimella. “Our current students can be proud of the fact that the value of the UVM degree they are pursuing is well known far beyond the borders of Vermont.”

Increased interest in UVM, coupled with a strong yield rate (the percentage of admitted students who choose to enroll), helps account for the new milestones. Enrollment broke previous records even though this year’s undergraduate admittance rate was about 8% lower than last year, the most selective rate in over 30 years.  

“Like the best and most sought-after colleges and universities in the country, UVM saw higher than expected enrollment.  We’re in good company in that regard,” said Vice Provost for Enrollment Management Jay Jacobs.

The university also saw sizeable increases in applications beyond the undergraduate level. UVM’s Graduate School saw record-high applications to master’s and doctoral programs, up 22% over last year, resulting in the largest-ever entering cohort of grad students this fall. Graduate students are an essential part of UVM’s ecosystem as a premier research university. 

The Larner College of Medicine—limited in size to 124 entering students each year—set a record for applications for this year's entering class, up 28% (over 8,800) compared with applications from the prior year. last year. The entering class includes students from 21 states.

“We believe that among the factors behind the surge is our commitment to keeping UVM affordable and accessible with a tuition freeze expected for a fourth consecutive year,” said Jacobs. “Other factors include the university's and the state's successful pandemic response, test-optional admissions, and robust recruitment and pipeline-building strategies that our admissions staff has followed for the past few years.”

Jacobs also attributed the surge to a growing awareness that UVM is a research university that provides hands-on learning opportunities not available everywhere, as well as other factors. “There's increasing attention on studying the environment, for which we're well known. Also, for the breadth of programs we offer, we're not as large as many public research universities. The strong sense of community is very attractive,” said Jacobs.

The new class is already building on the success that UVM students achieved last year despite the pandemic.

“UVM students didn’t just survive the challenges of the pandemic, they continued to thrive in academic pursuits, research projects, performances, internships, and the hundreds of every-day activities that define this great university,” said Patricia Prelock, provost and senior vice president.

If the recent past is a guide, the new undergraduate class will find academic and career success leading up to and following graduation. Based on the most recent available data, UVM reported its highest-ever graduation rate, 77% for the undergraduate class entering in 2015, placing the state flagship among the top 5% of public institutions in the U.S. For undergraduates who graduated between 2017 and 2019, 93% were employed or continuing their education within the first six months following graduation.

“We are committed to unmatched student success as the core of our strategic imperatives,” said Prelock. “UVM students and their families deserve nothing less.”