President Stritikus shares an update on Fall 2025 enrollment efforts, the progress made over the summer, and the cross-campus partnerships driving this important work forward.
Dear Occidental Community:
As I mentioned in a message on May 12, our Fall 2025 class, at an estimated 434 first years and 45 transfers, will be smaller than our target. We committed to doubling down on our efforts to retain our incoming class and making adjustments to ensure that we hit our target in future years. I wanted to provide an update on the progress we’ve already made and to highlight the many cross-campus partnerships that have made it possible.
The Office of Admission and many campus partners have been working tirelessly to mitigate summer melt and improve the onboarding experience. These efforts included:
- Hosting seven webinars with various administrators and campus partners to answer questions from students and families (Academic Advising, Emmons, SLICE, Housing, IPO, and more)
- Securing visa appointments for new international students under difficult circumstances (IPO)
- Distributing housing assignments for new students three weeks earlier than usual (ResEd)
- Coordinating 1:1 meetings with new students and faculty/advisors to initiate academic and advising conversations earlier (Faculty & Advising)
- Streamlining onboarding tasks and communication to reduce the number of due dates and prioritize earlier completion
- Strengthening student connections at Summer Send Off parties in five major metropolitan areas
- Creating more personalized touchpoints with the class, including swag for new students (tees) and their families (Proud Family magnets)
Together with the Board of Trustees, we committed to conducting a thorough after-action review to understand why we missed our target. Working with our new chair, Art Peck, we formed an ad hoc board committee charged with addressing the enrollment issue and how it impacts revenue generation for the College. Faculty Council President Sasha Day and I have also discussed how we can more strategically involve the faculty in achieving our admissions goals.
We reviewed our quantitative and qualitative data to make sense of what happened during the last recruitment cycle and assess what changes to make going forward. We are analyzing every element of our process and determining improvements in brand awareness, staffing structure, technology optimization, academic offerings, financial aid analysis, application simplification, and the transfer student experience. Now we’re shaping these recommendations into actions—some are already complete, and some are in implementation.
As we head into the Fall ’26 recruiting cycle, our work continues with gusto. This week’s Summer Open House had over 340 attendees and Fall Open Houses are already filling up. Our application fee has been removed to reduce barriers to application, and a new advertising campaign will kick off shortly. We've updated our website with clearer admissions information, streamlined application guidance, and improved accessibility.
I want to extend my sincere gratitude to everyone on campus who has worked this summer to help strengthen our enrollment for the fall and beyond. I am so grateful for your partnership and persistence as we navigate this together.
Best,
Tom