Stern College Enrollment Numbers Misleading

According to figures released for the fall of 1999, enrollment in Stern College for Women is now higher than enrollment in Yeshiva College. The difference places Stern Students on top by 71 enrollees. This is a rather large jump from last year, when Yeshiva College had forty-nine more students than Stern College for Women.

Contrary to published reports in The Observer, this is not the first time undergraduate women outnumber men. As recent as fall 1994 there were more students in SC than in YC and in fall of 1995 the figures were identical.

Dean Karen Bacon believes the fact that "there are more women interested in Stern College for Women than Men in Yeshiva College could possibly reflect a larger set of demographics - that women make up a slightly larger percentage of the total population of America than men. Attention to the liberal arts reflects a wide variety of choices for different career paths."

However, to say that there are more women in Stern College than men in Yeshiva College is slightly misleading. According to officials in the admissions office, all these numbers show is that there are more men going into business than into liberal arts.

What seems important to the admissions office is that both the Stern and the Yeshiva College numbers have increased since last year, following a pattern of steady growth that has continued to manifest over the last decade. Regarding the dispersion of students into the different schools on the respective campuses, the numbers are even more volatile. The fluctuation of students in the various schools could be symptomatic of any number of factors, ranging from current trends and professors, to the major that statistically has the highest earning potential.

But university officials are unconcerned with the shift in figures, "We’re not in competition with other schools on campus," explained John B. Fisher, Yeshiva Director of Enrollment. "If a student wants to be a philosophy major, I’m not going to tell him to go to Sy Syms. The only people who we’re in competition with is other universities."

On the other hand, it would be incorrect to view the new enrollment figures as just a semantics game. The real issue is not the numbers in the different schools, it’s the total number of undergraduate men and women. If Sy Syms were to disappear, those same people would be accounting majors, or finance majors in Yeshiva College.

While it is true that there are only 679 men enrolled in YC compared to 750 women enrolled in SCW, there are 496 men enrolled in the Sy Syms School of Business and only 169 women enrolled in the respective women’s business school. This brings the grand total of men up to 1175; 256 more than the 919 women.

"This seems to be simply an illustration of shifting of emphasis," says Mr. Michael Kranzler, Director of Admissions. "More men seem interested in business."

Overall, administrators are quite pleased with the increase, as the growth in the student body allows YC to become more selective. Enrollment is up on both campuses; it is only in their breakdown that they differ.