MU surpasses high school senior application record for 2024

COLUMBIA — When Daniel Levy toured the Reynolds Journalism Institute Thursday, he saw where he might call home next school year. 

Levy is a senior at a St. Louis-area high school and was accepted as a freshman at the University of Missouri.

"It was just one of the ones that I decided to apply to, didn't think about it that much at the time, but here I am," Levy said.

He's one of thousands of high school seniors applying to MU, helping the institution one-up itself by surpassing its record of freshman applicants, according to university officials. 

As of Thursday morning, the university received 22,515 applications from seniors, Chuck May, the executive director of admissions at MU said in an emailed statement. The previous record of high school senior applicants was 22,220, which happened in 2015, MU spokesperson Christian Basi confirmed. 

The majority of applicants are from Missouri, May said. But there are other states like Illinois, specifically the Chicagoland area, and Johnson County, Kansas, where applications are also coming from. 

It's no secret that the Missouri Tigers football team was hot this season. May said the athletic success garnered national attention for the university, and that contributed to more high school seniors putting pen to paper on their college applications, too.

Sports wasn't the only thing that helped MU's winning brand. In an inaugural list of "Future Leaders" by TIME magazine, MU ranked No. 13 among all public schools in the United States.

"I think that says that our graduates are successful also outside," May said.

Another marketing tool the university uses to reach more audiences is hand-written notes. Levy and his mom said they hadn't gotten notes, but they received new fliers and personalized cards. Levy said he hasn't committed to MU quite yet.

"I love the campus and we'll see if I end up going here," Levy said.

The university is spending more on reaching students who don't live in Missouri. The admissions office saw a 19% increase in non-resident applicants, May said. The increase is partly due to MU hiring an assistant director who analyzes out-of-state markets for recruitment.

During out-of-state visits, May said high school seniors get more intimate attention from recruiters. On average, there may be a group of two or three students on an out-of-state visit. Meanwhile, groups may be as large as 30-40 during in-state visits, May said.

The fall 2024 applicant pool is in a unique position since the U.S. Supreme Court ended affirmative action. Under current federal law, MU is not allowed to award race-based scholarships. 

MU doesn't decide admissions based on race, even before affirmative action was overturned. However, it's unclear how this will affect diversity at MU and other universities across the country.

"We are watching our underrepresented minority applications and admit numbers very closely," May said. "We won't know yet how that may affect the incoming class, we won't know that until August."