LU sustains last year's application jump

Last year at this time, Laurentian University was celebrating, as it had the highest increase in application numbers of any Ontario university, at 20 per cent.

This year, applications at the university are down about one per cent over last year. But that still means they're up 19 per cent from where they were two years ago.

Over the past five years, the rate of application increase at Laurentian has been three times the provincial average.

“The great news is we have sustained the significant increase,” said Laurentian president Dominic Giroux, speaking to Northern Life at the university's recent board of governors meeting, where he presented the numbers.

“So that's a positive trend we obviously want to continue for the future.”

One of the areas Laurentian continues to see significant application growth is among graduate students, where applications are up 64 per cent this year, particularly in MA in English, MBA and Orthophonie.

Applications are also up 68 per cent among international students.

Under its strategic plan, the university is looking to increase its complement of international students from 6.1 per cent in 2011 to eight per cent by 2015, and Giroux said Laurentian is on target to meet that goal.

The federal government announced Jan. 15 that it plans to double the number of international students in Canada, spending $5 million annually to support the program.

Giroux said he's glad to see the federal government's commitment to this area, as it aligns with Laurentian's priorities, but he said he's not sure the government is investing enough to spur the kind of growth target they want.