For Butler, a Surprising Yield

Gordon Hayward of Butler squares off against Duke’s Kyle Singler during the NCAA championship game in April. Andy Lyons, Getty Images

Back in April, as the Butler Bulldogs romanced the world of college hoops with an inviting blend of ruthless basketball and unassuming Midwestern charm, admissions officials at the Indianapolis university knew they were careening down a road many small colleges dream of traveling but few ever take.

On the day after Butler defeated Michigan State to advance to the national championship game against Duke, I caught up with Tom Weede, the university’s vice president for enrollment, to talk about how the tournament run might affect Butler’s appeal to future students. At the time, he politely dismissed my questions about whether the tournament run would drive up the number of accepted students who actually enroll for next year.

“Yield is always one of those guessing games,” Mr. Weede told me then, using admissions shorthand to refer to that ratio, which is the bedrock of planning for universities in such key areas as housing and tuition. “They’re looking for schools that have the major they’re looking for, the location, the size. They don’t just enroll because we have a good basketball team.”

Fast-forward two months, and Mr. Weede says he is chastened by that reponse. “I nearly laughed when you asked,” he said recently, “but, thankfully, didn’t.”

As it turns out, Butler’s yield is up. Way up.

The incoming freshman class is 133 bodies larger than it was last year at this time and has experienced far fewer summertime withdrawals than usual.

“Last year on this day, we were sitting at 974,” Mr. Weede said today. “Today, we’re at 1,107.” (The target for each incoming class is 920.)

At first, it appeared to be just another admissions spring, with deposits coming in at the same pace as last year, right up until May 1, he said.

“And then,” Mr. Weede said, “let’s just say the mail had lots of surprises.”

Now, the university is scrambling to secure housing for the students, many of whom may find themselves unpacking in rooms at the Christian Theological Seminary, just a block away from Butler’s leafy campus a few miles north of downtown.

If there are headaches that accompany a larger-than-expected freshman class, Mr. Weede, who has worked in college admissions for 27 years, isn’t suffering much. “Yes, there are problems involved,” he said. Enviable problems, perhaps.

“It has been the best period of time in my career,” he said. “Whenever I see one of my friends in admissions, I say I would wish this on any of them.”