All the Latest From College of Charleston Enrollment Planning

^{Above: The admissions staff is excited for the year ahead! (Photo by Mike Ledford)}

The College of Charleston Class of 2028 and new transfers are a part of another historic year for new students! This year’s class ranks as one of the largest in the College’s history with almost 2,300 first-year students and more than 600 new transfer students enrolled.

Our new students come from 45 states, the District of Columbia and 17 different countries. They represent 1,135 high schools and over 250 colleges.

After the Office of Admissions and the Office of Enrollment Information received and processed a new record number of almost 32,000 freshman applications and several thousand more from prospective transfer students, the College’s admission rate is expected to be at one of its lowest levels in decades.

The Office of Financial Assistance and Veterans Affairs processed close to 42,000 FAFSA forms under a particularly challenging timeline related to the delayed rollout of the new FAFSA by the Department of Education.

Over the summer, the Office of New Student Programs successfully hosted orientation sessions for 2,911 new students and 3,418 family members. A dedicated team of 20 Orientation Interns worked tirelessly to ensure that all attendees had a memorable experience. In addition to family orientation, the office supported families through a highly attended summer series of webinars. These webinars covered crucial topics such as orientation, academic advising, student involvement and campus housing.

The iCharleston program is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year with 77 participants currently studying in London, Rome and Dublin. This unique fall semester abroad offers future first-year students a rich blend of in-class and out-of-class learning experiences, shared with their peers and guided by residential site directors who are recent College of Charleston graduates. Our partner institutions and organizations at each site provide continuous support to our iCharleston participants throughout their time abroad.

The CofC Parent & Family Experience, the College of Charleston’s parent communication platform, showed high engagement levels among the 15,700 subscribers. This platform offers parents and families essential information about campus resources and helps support student success. It is customizable, allowing users to receive relevant information and set their preferred update frequency. If you haven’t subscribed yet, we highly encourage you to join the CofC Parent & Family Experience.

The College’s Office of Admissions visitor center welcomed more than 40,000 individuals this past year with another busy visit season already underway.  This year’s on-campus student recruitment opportunities include daily tours, information sessions and three Charleston Visit Days taking place this fall: Monday, Sept. 30.; Friday, Oct. 18; and Saturday, Nov. 9.  In addition, M.O.V.E. (Multicultural Overnight Visit Experience) will take place Oct. 18–19 and Nov. 8–9, 2024. Our admitted student events, renamed “Choose Charleston,” will be held on Feb. 22 and March 22, 2025. We look forward to having the campus participate in these upcoming events.