Lakehead University appears to be especially attractive to this year’s crop of high school graduates.
According to figures released by the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre, the Thunder Bay school has received a 12.6 per cent increase in applications over last year, tops in the province.
Ontario as a whole is averaging 2.4 per cent more applications in 2012.
“These preliminary figures are exciting and confirm that the strategies and policies we have been pursuing over the past year are working,” said LU president Brian Stevenson in a release issued Tuesday by the school.
“More students are considering Lakehead University because of its comprehensive array of programs in business administration, education, engineering, health and behavourial scicences, natural resource management, science and environmental studies and social sciences and humanities.”
School officials said new academic programs, marketing initiatives in Northwestern Ontario, Simcoe County and southern Ontario and modifications to the school’s recruitment efforts have all played a role in the increased interest.
The school’s profile has also risen because of the decision by the province last year to add a faculty of law at Lakehead.
Orillia campus dean Kim Fedderson aid the addition of two new majors, criminology and new media studies, have also helped.
Meanwhile Andrea Huillery, the director of admissions and recruitment, said the increased focus on the reputation of the school’s academic programs, combined with student and alumni success, has also been a factor.
Application numbers are based on the Jan. 11 OUAC deadline for high school students to apply to Ontario universities, though schools continue to accept applications beyond this point.
