In stark contrast to many schools, interest at Colgate University in the town of Hamilton has never been higher. The university has made some adjustments in the last few years and the additions and changes seem to be paying off.

The number of students seeking higher education is dropping across the country. According to National Student Clearinghouse, undergraduate enrollment went down across all institution sectors this past fall.

They say private for-profit four-year colleges had undergraduate enrollment drop 11.1%. Public four-year schools decreased by 3.8%, or 251,000 students, compared to the previous year. They say enrollment in private nonprofit four-year schools and community colleges also dropped.

Brittney Dorow loves Colgate University. She loved it as a student and now as an employee. She’s the university’s senior assistant dean of admission.

“It’s great work, very busy, always changing. I like a job that’s less stagnant,” Dorow said.

Dorow has been employed full-time with Colgate for five years. She says school applications were gradually increasing for awhile, but recently they have skyrocketed.

“A 146% increase in the last couple of years,” she said.

As of mid-January, 21,153 people applied to Colgate University, compared to just under 10,000 in 2019. Of that, Colgate staff say they typically try to admit about 3,000 students and enroll around 800 students.

For some students, like Bella Stamati from Kansas City, Missouri, the campus’ beauty is a big draw.

“I applied to Colgate very randomly. I heard about it because of one of the brochures that I got mailed, and I ended up coming to Colgate after applying and getting in because I took a tour and thought the campus was so beautiful, and it had everything I needed,” Stamati.

Ahmaud Gabriele of Georgia also was drawn to the campus’s look and convenience.

“I think there’s a lot of opportunities here that I got a chance to experience that I would not have anywhere else, and I know a lot of people back home or just in the south or even in other places that would genuinely enjoy being here,” said Gabriele.

Both students work in the admissions office as they go to school. They, and Dorow, say it’s more than Colgate’s beauty attracting students. It’s also the school’s increase in virtual engagement, their participation in a pilot program of being a test-optional school and affordability.

“Students whose household income is $80,000 or less annually do not pay tuition at Colgate. Or Colgate’s No-Loan Initiative where families that make $150,000 or less annually, those students do not have loans as a part of their financial aid package so some of those things, I think, made Colgate a lot more appealing on paper,” Dorow said.

Taylor Featherstone from Syracuse is also attending Colgate.

“I was looking for a school with much smaller class sizes, and it felt a lot more connected; more like a family here,” said Featherstone.

She, too, is working in admissions. Featherstone says other schools should consider the moves Colgate has made.

“I do think that more schools can work to be more financially accessible in the way that Colgate is with their No-Loan Commitment. I also think that more schools could be a bit more accessible in helping students apply with being test-optional, like we are. I think that Colgate really sets a standard that other schools should be trying to rise up to,” Featherstone said.

With Colgate becoming an option for a larger population, Dorow said this applicant year is their most diverse. Despite opening it up to more people, she said their academics are not suffering.

“Those students are still showing some of the same academic benchmarks that we would have seen even in our smaller academic pools so it’s just been an increase all over, all across the board,” said Dorow. “It’s kind of wild.”

Colgate University has also partnered with QuestBridge, a nonprofit helping to connect exceptional, low-income youth with higher education. Colgate staff said national recognition they received from how they have handled the pandemic is also helping interest students.