The university has maintained its enrollment this fall while increasing selectivity, Provost Elizabeth D. Capaldi told members of the UB Council Tuesday.

Capaldi shared with council members—meeting for the first time this semester in the community room of the new South Lake Village student housing project—a summary of the enrollment picture at UB for the fall semester.

Among the highlights:

• Full-time undergraduate and graduate/professional enrollment has risen over fall 1999 figures. UB's total enrollment for fall 2000 is 24,830, up from 24,257 last fall.

• The university's enrollment is 68 percent undergraduate enrollment; 32 percent graduate and professional enrollment.

• UB is improving its recruitment of students from outside Western New York. Although nearly 13,500 of UB's 24,830-student body reside within Western New York, the number coming from elsewhere in New York State, as well as from out of state and out of the country, is rising. "We want to become a more national institution, not just a regional one," Capaldi said.

• While the number of enrolled freshmen declined to 3,123 from the 3,265 that entered the university in fall 1999, the number is right on track with the number of 3,000 cited in the Memorandum of Understanding with the SUNY central administration.

• The acceptance rate for enrolled freshmen has declined from 82.4 percent in fall 1999 to 75.5 percent for fall 2000, an indication UB has become more selective.

• The profile of the freshman class is improving, with the SAT composite score for enrolled freshmen rising to 1,150 this fall, compared to 1,137 for fall 1999. The score is the highest in the past five years, Capaldi said, adding that "we're working to raise that" score even more.

In response to a question from council member Jonathan Dandes, Capaldi noted that while the SAT composite score of enrolled freshmen at Binghamton University is quite a bit higher than UB-at 1210 or 1220-UB's score is comparable to that at Albany and substantially higher than that at Stony Brook.

President William R. Greiner added that UB's score is in "the middle of the pack" among institutions in the prestigious Association of American Universities, of which UB is a member.

Capaldi pointed out that such public AAU members as the University of Virginia, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Michigan achieve composite SAT scores of around 1,300. But the key to attracting the top students is offering substantial scholarship money, she said, noting that competition is stiff for the brightest students.

In other business, the council unanimously approved a resolution honoring Erland E. Kailbourne, who retired this year from the SUNY Board of Trustees.