485 Students Join the W&L Class of 2022

By News Office
May 8, 2018

485 students have made commitments to join Washington and Lee University’s Class of 2022, which will arrive on campus in August. The students were selected from an original applicant pool of 5,855, which represents the second consecutive year of increased applications. Since 2016, applications to W&L have grown by 15 percent.

From those 5,855 applications, the university accepted 1,238 applicants, or 21 percent of the total pool; 39 percent of students accepted W&L’s offer of admission.

“We are thrilled with the incredibly strong and accomplished group of women and men who have accepted our offers of admission,” said Sally Stone Richmond, W&L’s vice president and dean of admissions and financial aid. “Our success this year reflects the unified and concerted efforts of this community to convey to applicants the qualities and opportunities that make W&L distinctive. We are confident that these students will bring the particular qualities of character, leadership and academic excellence that have always defined W&L students. We are grateful for the support and look forward to welcoming these highly talented and diverse students to the W&L community over the coming months.”

While the composition of the class may shift slightly over the summer, Richmond pointed to positive outcomes on several important metrics:

• The Class of 2022 includes 24 international students from 17 countries (5 percent of the class) and domestic students from 42 states and the District of Columbia, compared to 38 states and the District of Columbia last year. The states with the largest representation in the Class of 2022 are Virginia, Texas, New Jersey, North Carolina, Georgia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
• 55 percent of incoming students will receive financial aid in the form of grants — up from 51 percent last year. A portion of those students are eligible for the W&L Promise, which guarantees a minimum grant of tuition to any undergraduate student admitted to Washington and Lee with a total family income below $100,000 and assets typical for their income.
• The number of students eligible for Pell Grants rose to 13 percent, up from 10 percent three years ago.
• Domestic students of color account for 17 percent of the class, up from 15 percent last year and 11 percent in the Class of 2020. The number of African-American students in the class doubled, from 14 last year to 28.
• Average standardized test scores for the Class of 2022 reflected an increase in the ACT median for the first time in five years, rising to 33. The median SAT rose to 1410.
• For the first time in recent years, the class includes more women than men. Women compose 55 percent of the class, and 45 percent are men. When the Class of 2022 matriculates in the fall, the student body will be approximately 50 percent women and 50 percent men.
• 10 percent of the class won the prestigious Johnson Scholarships, comprehensive merit awards that recognize leadership, service and outstanding academic achievement. The scholarships are part of W&L’s Johnson Program in Leadership and Integrity.

Richmond noted that the number of deposits is greater than the anticipated number of students that will matriculate this fall; the goal for the Class of 2022 was 461. This is typical for this point in the admissions cycle, and allows for shrinkage between May and August.

Of the class, 54 percent had been admitted during the two early-decision options and the QuestBridge program, and 46 percent during the regular-decision option. The Admissions Office has closed its waitlist for the year.