It’s that time of year again. UBC has released its 2021/22 enrolment report
Each year, the university releases an annual enrolment report which provides details into student demographics, retention rates and admissions. In what has become an annual tradition, The Ubyssey broke down this year’s report.
How many students go to UBC?
UBC has 72,281 students across both campuses, up over 2,000 students from last year. This breaks down to 60,292 students at the Vancouver campus and 11,989 attend the Okanagan campus. 19.3 per cent of the total student body at UBC Vancouver and 9.8 per cent of the students at UBC Okanagan are obtaining their graduate degrees.
In early February, the Senate approved a reduction in enrolment targets for the 2022/23 school year. While UBC will still see an increase in the number of students, the university will only increase undergrad intake targets by 1.6 per cent for domestic students and 3.3 per cent for international students at UBC Vancouver — which amounts to 249 fewer domestic students and 146 fewer international.
Matthew Ramsey, director of university affairs at UBC Media Relations, said this is due to the fact that “the number of provincially funded FTE (full-time equivalent domestic students) has remained largely the same.” On the other hand, international student enrolment is set by UBC and is more flexible.
Where do students come from?
There are currently 43,488 domestic students and 16,804 international students at UBC Vancouver, and 9,380 domestic students and 2,609 international students at the Okanagan campus.
On both the Vancouver and Okanagan Campus, Chinese, Indian and Americans make up a majority of the international student body.
This year, over 30,000 domestic students applied for admission into either of UBC’s campuses. The Vancouver campus received 4,232 more domestic applications and 4,009 more international applications compared to last year.
Domestic students had a first choice program admission rate of 50 per cent for Vancouver and 71 per cent for Okanagan. In comparison, 45 per cent and 73 per cent of international students were admitted into their first choice.
Indigenous enrolment
Over the past five years, Indigenous student enrolment has steadily increased. This year, 758 self-identified Indigenous students attend the Okanagan campus and 1,446 attend the Vancouver campus. In total, this is 162 more students compared to last year.
At Okanagan, 90 per cent of first-year undergraduate Indigenous students were retained compared to 85 per cent on the Vancouver campus.
Ramsey says UBC is continuously working to improve retention rates for Indigenous students. Strategies implemented by the university include “the establishment of the Indigenous Collegia, the expansion of the undergraduate research mentorship program, partnerships with colleges like Langara to improve the transition for transfer students, and the hiring of a career strategist.”
Applicant pool
The admissions office gave reviews to over 110,000 personal profiles (at least 2 readers per applicant) and estimates around 15 per cent of admitted students would not have been granted admission with a grades-only model.
The average entering grade range for courses completed in applicants’ final years of secondary school was 89–91 per cent for Vancouver and 85–87 per cent for Okanagan.
When asked about how the pandemic affected enrolment and admissions, Ramsey said, “What we have seen over the last two years is that of the students who receive an admission offer, more of these students are accepting the offer and attending UBC.”
Retention rates
At UBC Vancouver, 94 per cent of the 2020/21 cohort of first-years remained enrolled into the new year. 89 per cent of international first-year students remained enrolled compared to 96 per cent of domestic first-year students.
On the Okanagan Campus, the trend is reversed: 90 per cent of the international student body continued their studies compared to 88 per cent of the domestic student body for an overall 89 per cent retention rate.