The University is teaming up again with Harvard University and Princeton University this fall on a national tour advertising the accessibility of education for potential applicants.
The tour, which began Sunday and will continue through November, will expand from the 19 cities visited last year to a total of 27 cities across the nation. The three universities went on tour for the first time last fall after they decided to eliminate their early admission programs, University of Virginia Dean of Admissions John Blackburn said.
Both Blackburn and Princeton spokesperson Cass Cliatt said the universities’ decisions were motivated by the desire to increase accessibility for low-income students.
The universities decided to go on tour together to promote this message of accessibility, Cliatt said.
“We felt that it wasn’t enough [to eliminate the early admission process] if people of all income backgrounds didn’t know the move had been taken,” Cliatt said. “We’re taking our message to the road to let students know that Princeton is possible, Harvard is possible, U.Va. is possible.”
Blackburn noted that the universities are seeing greater interest by working together than they would if they toured individually.
“We agreed... to join our forces, which are substantial and try to make a national effort at persuading students and families that highly selective, expensive colleges have financial aid available, and we’re serious about enrolling them,” Blackburn said.
Harvard Director of Communications Bob Mitchell said the program was highly successful, which is why Harvard was interested in participating again this year.
Cliatt said although there have been large turnouts at every stop on the tour, Princeton will probably not be able to measure the success of the program until the next admissions cycle. She added, however, that Princeton’s current freshman class was the most economically diverse of any class at Princeton so far, noting that 56 percent of the class receives financial aid.
The University saw only a slight increase in the number of low-income students enrolled last year, Blackburn said, noting that he expects gradual increases in the number of low-income students applying to and enrolling in the University.
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