Sharp Rise in Number of Black Applicants at the University of Virginia

It is no secret that, economically, times are tough. It is no coincidence that colleges and universities with generous financial aid programs such as Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are seeing a sharp rise in applications.

Add the University of Virginia to the list. Its AccessUVA financial aid program assigned the university the “best value” among public universities in the latest rankings by the Princeton Review.

The University of Virginia reports a record 21,511 applications for its Class of 2013. Applications from all minority groups were up sharply. The university reports that the number of blacks who applied for admission increased by 22 percent over a year ago. In 2008 there were 1,366 black applicants to the University of Virginia.

Copyright © 2009. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.