Deion Sanders has made the University of Colorado even cooler than it was. His first year as head coach of the college football program led to a massive increase in applicants to the school.
In fact, a record-breaking number of students applied for the 2024 fall semester!
According to Olivia Doak of the Daily Camera, the University of Colorado Boulder received 68,000 applications for next year. That number marks a ~20% increase year-over-year and is not yet final. High school students will continue to apply over the next few weeks.
It is not fair to attribute the increase only to Coach Prime because other factors are involved as well. He created a buzz around the Buffaloes that did not exist before his hire. College GameDay was on campus for the first time since 1996!
Assistant vice chancellor of admissions Jennifer Ziegenfus is willing to acknowledge Sanders’ role in the increase of applications. It would be ludicrous not to.
However, she will not attribute it directly to the head coach.
No doubt the exposure that CU Boulder has received since Coach Prime was hired has been tremendous. It obviously showcases that a number of our national media outlets are attracting applicants from all over the world, but it’s really difficult for us to draw that causational line between Coach Prime and this application increase.
— Jennifer Ziegenfus
Is it really that difficult to draw a causational line? I don’t think so.
It seems silly that the vice chancellor of admissions would not be able to see how the buzz around Deion Sanders and his program did not drive more students to apply. Especially when you look at the numbers!
Doak reported that CU Boulder extended offers to approximately 51,000 students. 73% of the offers were extended to people who do not live in the state.
Out-of-state tuition costs more than in-state tuition. Colorado is able to generate more revenue by accepting more out-of-state students. Out-of-state students are more excited about the university than ever before in large part because of the head football coach.
In addition, Ziegenfus said that this new applicant pool is the most diverse.
Applications from Black and African American students are up about 50.5%. Surely the assistant vice chancellor of admissions can see how Coach Prime might have played a role in that increase. Apparently not!
Regardless of the reason for doing so, it is really weird that Colorado won’t acknowledge the impact that Sanders had on applications. There is a pretty obvious line to draw between the two…