UNMC attracts ‘best and brightest’ to start new academic year

More students are attending UNMC this fall, and the incoming students are of exceptional quality, the campus’s chief academic officer said today.

This fall, 2,904 students are enrolled at UNMC, an increase of 39 students (1.4 percent) from fall 2003. In every college at UNMC, the credentials for the incoming first-year students are impressive, said Rubens Pamies, M.D., vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean for graduate studies at UNMC.

“We have been successful at recruiting the best and the brightest,” Dr. Pamies said. “Our No. 1 priority is to educate the very best Nebraska students, and we think we’re doing that. Certainly, we’ll also look nationally to recruit the best students there, in hopes to meet our educational objectives.”

Because nearly all of UNMC’s classes are limited in size, enrollment figures usually see little change across the university. From last year, the number of UNMC’s undergraduate students increased by 38 students, and the number of professional students increased by 27. The number of graduate students decreased by 26. UNMC turns away qualified students because the competition is so high, Dr. Pamies said. Only more funding would enable the class sizes to increase, so that Nebraskans could be better served.

“The health care needs are significant, and we hope to be able to admit more students in selected areas at some point,” Dr. Pamies said.

Some highlights of the incoming classes for the various colleges include:
College of Dentistry

Forty-five first-year students are seeking the doctor of dental science (D.D.S.) degree. Those students have the highest grade point average – 3.79 – of any dental class ever. In all, 686 students applied to the dental program, with 138 of those students being interviewed. Twenty-four students are entering the college’s dental hygiene program.

Four of the hygiene students are at the Panhandle Health Center near Scottsbluff. The 3.58 GPA of the dental hygiene class is among the highest for that program.

College of Medicine

Nearly 1,000 students applied for admission in the program that offers a doctor of medicine (M.D.) degree. Of those, 121 students were admitted to comprise the Class of 2008. Those students had a 3.69 overall GPA and a 28.6 mean composite score on the MCAT, the standardized admission test for incoming medical students.

College of Nursing

From 384 applicants, 129 students will begin this fall in the bachelor of science in nursing (B.S.N.) program at UNMC. The students who were admitted possessed an average GPA of 3.55. Forty-two of those students will take classes originating on the Omaha campus, while the CON Lincoln Division has 35 first-semester students, and the Kearney and West Nebraska Divisions have 26 apiece.

The College of Nursing also admits students in the spring. For spring 2005, 300 students applied to the college. Of those, 138 students have been admitted – 48 for the Omaha Division, 40 for the Lincoln Division and 25 students each for the Kearney and West Nebraska Divisions. The new accelerated B.S.N. program for the Omaha and Lincoln Divisions will admit 20 additional students yearly beginning in the spring semester.

College of Pharmacy

Sixty-five students are enrolled to pursue the doctor of pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree. In all, 284 students applied, an increase from 190 students in 2002 and 210 in 2003. The average undergraduate GPA of the students who were admitted was 3.75. Within the incoming class, 56 students are from Nebraska, and 41 students are from rural areas of the state.

School of Allied Health Professions

With 170 students, this year’s class marked the largest in history, as several of the programs responded to workforce shortages. There were 621 applicants for the 170 positions in the 10 allied health programs. The average GPA of the entering students in three of those programs was 3.80 and above: radiography, 3.80; physical therapy, 3.81; and diagnostic medical sonography, 3.86. Students in the SAHP pursue degrees in clinical perfusion, cytotechnology, diagnostic medical sonography, medical nutrition, medical technology, nuclear medicine, physical therapy, physician assistant, radiation therapy and radiography.

Graduate students
The number of UNMC graduate students fell 4.8 percent, from 538 students to 512.

Dr. Pamies said that many schools in the country are seeing drastic decreases in the number of their graduate students, in part because of a change in U.S. policy regarding international students. From 2003 to 2004, the number of international students applying to graduate school declined by 32 percent. The number of those students who were admitted dropped by 18 percent.

“We’ve done a much better job of retaining our graduate students – and recruiting new students – than many other universities have,” Dr. Pamies said. “All in all, our enrollment numbers, along with the quality of our students, are very encouraging.”