The official student newspaper of Vanderbilt University

The Vanderbilt Hustler

The official student newspaper of Vanderbilt University.
Since 1888
The official student newspaper of Vanderbilt University

The Vanderbilt Hustler

The official student newspaper of Vanderbilt University.
The official student newspaper of Vanderbilt University

The Vanderbilt Hustler

The official student newspaper of Vanderbilt University.

By the numbers: Vanderbilt Class of 2021 “most diverse, accomplished” in history

First-year+and+transfer+students+participate+in+Founders+Walk+on+August+20%2C+2017.
Claire Barnett
First-year and transfer students participate in Founder’s Walk on August 20, 2017.

This year, Vanderbilt welcomed what the university called the “most diverse and accomplished class” in the school’s history. The class of 2021 has the highest percentage of minority students, up 3.8 percent from last year and twice the percentage from a decade ago. More than 90 percent of the class were in the top 10 percent of their high school class and 100 percent participated in leadership and scholastic roles.  

In the past 10 years, the admittance pool has grown 144 percent. Of the 31,462 students who applied to Vanderbilt, 10.9 percent were accepted. This year had the highest yield rate, with 47.1 percent of admitted students choosing to attend Vanderbilt.

According to Vanderbilt administrators, increased financial aid and debt reduction helps students access greater opportunity. Through the Opportunity Vanderbilt program and the American Talent Initiative, the university says it is able to recruit more talented low and moderate income students. More than 70 percent of this year’s freshman class receives some form of financial aid, with 53.9 percent receiving need-based aid. Additionally, 15 percent of the freshman class received Pell Grants, up from eight percent in 2008.

The university improved in its overall rankings, moving up to number 14 in the U.S. News & World Report and reclaiming its number one happiest students title.

[infogram id=”class-of-2021-percent-minority-1gx3pw0oony02gr”]

Featured photo by Claire Barnett // The Vanderbilt Hustler

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About the Contributors
Sam Zern, Former Managing Editor

Sam Zern ('20) has been a member of The Vanderbilt Hustler since her freshman year, first as a staff writer and shortly after as assistant campus editor. She went on to be campus editor and, later, editor in chief. In her senior year at Vanderbilt, Sam was managing editor and streamlined recruitment and training processes.

In her time as a member of the editorial board, she has prioritized diversity and breadth in coverage, wanting to make sure as much of Vanderbilt as possible is represented in the paper. Outside of The Hustler, she studies education policy and sociology and has worked as a journalist for local publications in Austin and Nashville. She plans to pursue a career in journalism (and will gladly take any and all advice!)

Connect with Sam: [email protected] Personal website Twitter LinkedIn

 
Claire Barnett, Former Multimedia Director

Comments (1)

The Vanderbilt Hustler welcomes and encourages readers to engage with content and express opinions through the comment sections on our website and social media platforms. The Hustler reserves the right to remove comments that contain vulgarity, hate speech, personal attacks or that appear to be spam, commercial promotion or impersonation. The comment sections are moderated by our Editor-in-Chief, Rachael Perrotta, and our Social Media Director, Chloe Postlewaite. You can reach them at [email protected] and [email protected].
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Alan Wilms
6 years ago

“The class of 2021 has the highest percentage of minority students and the lowest acceptance rate of any class before it.”

Based on the graphs in the article, this is false. Class of 2020 had a rate of 10.7% while class of 2021 had a rate of 10.9%.