2021 Yearly Overview

An extraordinary year

Amidst a year full of changes, we continue to stand strong as a Hoosier family dedicated to our students, each other, and our community at large. Within the Office of Enrollment Management (OEM), we remain unwavering in our dedication to our mission and once again we’ve seen remarkable growth with our record-setting incoming class—the largest and most diverse class ever, with the highest number of students receiving gift aid in IU Bloomington history.

The limitations imposed by the pandemic have also given our outstanding team opportunities to create innovative programs and processes that have improved our ability to recruit, enroll, and serve IU students, all while working remotely.

Increasing access to a world-class education

With the multitude of challenges students face in pursuing a college degree and the growing pressures placed on higher education enrollment, increasing access continues to be a primary focus for OEM. Our increases in numerous indicators of diversity, gift aid, and financial support are proof of the success of this strategy.

In our admissions process, we put in place several new strategies to support the goals of interested students, including the adoption of a test-optional admissions policy. In this first year, 45 percent of admitted students chose not to report test scores. As it allows students to decide how best to tell their academic story, our test-optional policy is a key part of our effort to increase access to an IU education.

Making an IU education more affordable

We also increased access by making a college education more affordable for our students—over half of IU Bloomington undergraduates graduate debt free. By introducing a new scholarship approach in which we award academic scholarships based solely on high school performance, without consideration of test scores, we have been able to support a record number of incoming students. Overall, 69 percent of beginning students are receiving gift aid, including 4,518 students receiving IU Academic Scholarships.

In a year where FAFSA submissions fell nationally, our communications to students emphasized the importance of federal student aid, helping drive a 23 percent increase in Pell Grant-eligible students, with 1,713 in the beginner cohort. Together, the revised admissions and scholarship processes this year resulted in three times as many incoming freshmen who qualified for both Pell Grants and IU Academic Scholarships, compared to last year. IU’s 21st Century Scholars Covenant—with 550 recipients and a 16 percent growth over last year—and the Pell Promise award—with 312 recipients and a 32 percent growth over last year—continue to draw qualified students who would otherwise be unable to pursue a college degree.

Supporting affordability also means increasing value by providing more educational opportunities for students without additional costs. During the 2020–2021 academic year, we offered students four more credit hours at no extra cost to encourage them to take advantage of the summer and winter intersessions. That’s another course or two, for the same price. In addition, in partnership with the Big Ten Academic Alliance, students were able to take an online course from another participating Big Ten school each semester, with all tuition and fees waived for that course. Both programs were designed to enhance educational opportunities for students during the pandemic.

For all 2021 graduates, from January to August, we arranged for an electronic diploma (ceDiploma) to be provided free of charge. Our office will continue to advocate for the university to budget ceDiplomas for all future graduates.

Cultivating a space to belong

Within and beyond the world of higher education, systemic inequality and barriers to access have been on the minds of many, including those of the OEM team. To address such barriers, OEM convened the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Advisory Committee to develop recommendations that directly impact OEM’s path towards creating meaningful change within our offices—both for our students and staff. Under the Committee’s recommendations, OEM is devising actionable, sustainable changes in order to rise to the call for a more inclusive and equitable university and OEM community.

A beginner class for the books

Students continue to affirm the value and appeal of an IU education, with a beginner class that, with 9,482 students, shatters previous records for enrollment. Of those, 5,129 are domestic Indiana residents, making IU home to more beginner Hoosiers than any other university campus.

Along with its impressive size, the class sets records for its students’ academic preparation and readiness. Their median high school GPA is the second highest ever at 3.85. Their academic preparation and readiness is also reflected in impressive numbers of direct admits—5,329, or a 43 percent growth over last year—and beginners in the Hutton Honors College—1,597, or a 40 percent growth over last year.

This year also marks a record level of diverse student enrollment. The campus welcomed 1,668 historically marginalized students, an 11 percent increase over last year. This is a continued trend for IU as we’ve seen a record number of historically marginalized students each of the last ten years, with this figure nearly doubling since 2011.

This year marks the fourth consecutive year that all 92 Indiana counties are represented in the beginner class. We are also welcoming students from 47 states, plus Washington, D.C., and citizens of 46 countries, setting a new record in international beginner diversity of citizenship.

Use the arrows to see more beginner class stats.

Pivoting for the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic also changed the way we innovate, connect, and collaborate in OEM.

Throughout the year, we worked to create safe opportunities for students to learn and connect on campus. This included creating a safe campus environment by reducing classroom and passing period capacities and altering the academic calendar to reduce travel to and from campus and the Bloomington community, while still offering wellness breaks for students.

In collaboration with our Hoosier Experience program and several campus partners, IU Bloomington hosted more than 300 outdoor events at Open Air Venues—from free Sunday yoga classes to theater events under the stars. More than 12,000 people attend these events throughout the year.

Description of the video:

Office of Enrollment Management

Connecting with Students Video Transcript

[Upbeat music plays.]

[Video: A series of cascading red circles fill the screen one after the other. The screen then goes white, and the IU Office of Enrollment Management logo appears.]

[Words appear: connecting with students.]

[Video: A series of red bars move across the screen. The screen is white again.]

[Words appear: To recruit, enroll, and serve students in 2020–21…we brought IU Bloomington to them by…]

[Video: The words move up and off screen, with color lines following them. A red bar covers the left side of the screen, and a video clip featuring a student near the Sample Gates appears over it. A white background with grey dots covers the right side of the screen, with words over it.]

[Words appear: Showcasing our beautiful campus with a series of campus tour videos.]

Student in video clip: If you’ve ever received any piece of mail from IU, you definitely see the Sample Gates plastered all over them. The Sample Gates is an incredible architecture piece.

[Video: The video clip shows the gates from different angles, then stops. The video and words disappear, and the red bar moves across to the right side of the screen. An image of a social media post appears in the red bar, showing a student with IU balloons and red and white props around them. The post is from the Indiana University Office of Admissions, username at IU Admissions, dated February twenty-one, with the caption: What to do when you find out hashtag IU said yes. Step one: Celebrate like crazy. Step two: Submit your intent to enroll to reserve your space at IU. The left side of the screen is white with grey dots, with words over it.

[Words appear: Interacting with students on social media—and sharing their success.]

[Video: The words and image disappear. The red bar moves to the left side of the screen. A video clip shows the title and captions from the podcast The Dish on Admish. The right side of the screen is white with grey dots, with words over it.]

[Words appear: Launching a podcast hosted by current Hoosiers.]

Student one from podcast clip: Hi everyone, I’m Alyssa.

Student two from podcast clip: And I’m also Alyssa.

Student one from podcast clip: And this is the Dish on Admish.

[Video. The video clip and words disappear. The red bar moves to the right part of the screen and a video clip showing a series of IU faculty and staff speaking to the camera. The left side of the screen is white with grey dots, with words over it.]

[Words appear: Keeping parents and families in the loop with content just for them.]

[Video: The video clip on the right then shows Sacha Thieme, Assistant Vice Provost and Executive Director of Admissions, with her name and title appearing at the bottom of the video.]

Sacha: Parents and family members, welcome to IU.

[Video: The video clip switches to another person. Then the words and video disappear. The red bar moves to the left side of the screen. An image of a social media post from IU Scholarships, username at IU scholarships, dated May nineteen, that shows a photo about an available scholarship with the caption: Open to any student athlete regardless of your sport or how you participated. Applicants should submit an essay on how high school sports helped shape their career goals. Learn more at scholarships dot Indiana dot e d u. The right side of the screen is white with grey dots, with words over it.]

[Words appear: Connecting current and prospective students with scholarship opportunities.]

[Video: The image and words disappear. The red bar moves to the right side of the screen. An image of a social media post from Student Central at IU, username at Stu Central IU, dated April seven, that shows a graphic congratulating graduates plus Commencement information, with the caption: It’s time to (safely) celebrate your accomplishment! Get to know the rules and then reserve your tickets for Commencement. The left side of the screen is white with grey dots, with words over it.]

[Words appear: Celebrating milestones on students’ IU journey.]

[Video: The image and words disappear. The red bar moves to the left side of the screen. An image of a social media post from IU First Year Experience Programs, username at IU F Y E, dated July eighteen, that shows a photo of a package of IU gifts, with the caption: Be on the lookout for an IU packet that will get you pumped for fall! You’ll get a helpful handbook, an inspiring IU bucket list, and some sweet swag! The right side of the screen is white with grey dots, with words over it.]

[Words appear: Sending print materials—and IU swag!—to enhance students’ virtual experiences.]

[Video. The image and words disappear. The red bar moves to the right part of the screen and a video clip shows an IU student speaking to the camera. The left side of the screen is white with grey dots, with words over it.]

[Words appear: Interacting with students and families through live Q and A events.]

Student from video clip: I am a senior from Covington, Indiana, studying history African American diaspora studies.

[Video: The video and words disappear. The red bar moves down and off the screen.]

[Words appear: Wherever students were in their IU journey—and in the world—we found new ways to connect.]

[Video: A series of cascading red circles fill the screen one after the other. The screen then goes black, and the IU Office of Enrollment Management logo appears. At the bottom of the screen is the website address o e m dot Indiana dot e d u slash overview.]

[End of transcript.]

We also transformed many of our in-person events to virtual platforms to keep both current and prospective students engaged and informed. OEM offices offered hundreds of virtual events and programs, including prospective student open houses, admitted student events, scholarship events, campus tours, a fully online New Student Orientation and Welcome Weeks experience. Together these events served over 25,000 participants and helped our office to maintain the high level of excellence we are known for as we recruit, enroll, and serve Hoosiers.

Our office also adopted a new digital platform, Wisr, for admitted and deposited students, where students were able to connect with one another, current students, and university staff before even stepping foot on campus.

Back together again

As the campus planned for the return to mostly normal operations this fall, we began coordinating in-person classes, events, gatherings, and more. To accomplish this, we returned classrooms to full capacity for fall; organized a more typical Welcome Week experience with dozens of in-person events (including opportunities for second-year students who may have missed out on the campus experience last year); and resumed campus visits with small outdoor groups in March and larger groups and indoor presentations in August. As we introduce these changes, we continue to carefully monitor COVID-19 on campus and in the community and continue to support policies that take into consideration the health and safety of all students, faculty, and staff.

Learn more about the goals and accomplishments of the Office of Enrollment Management

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