Boise State University has announced its extension of residential applications and Boise State scholarship deadlines for incoming freshmen from Feb. 15, 2021, to May 1, 2021. These extensions are only available for Idaho residents.
Kris Collins, associate vice president for enrollment services, says the university decided to extend these deadlines due to unexpectedly low enrollment rates for the fall 2021 semester for in-state residents.
“Our numbers that we currently have at this time are low. We were hoping to provide students the most flexibility to kind of figure out what fall might look like with COVID and vaccinations and all of those things. Hopefully, [Boise State is] giving them enough time to decide whether or not they’re going to apply to Boise State,” Collins said.
The Idaho resident enrollment numbers are lower than usual because many Idaho high school students are not enjoying their online class experience and do not want to continue taking online classes in college, according to Collins.
“We found anecdotally, both from talking to high school counselors and high school students, that a lot of them are not enjoying their online high school experience,” Collins said. “They are having a hard time their senior year, either doing things remotely or hybrid, and they know they do not want to do that for college. A lot of them are waiting to find out what fall looks like at Boise State.”
Enrollment numbers for out-of-state students are higher compared to last year and the university has chosen to not extend deadlines for non-Idaho residents, according to Collins.
“Fortunately, our out-of-state numbers were already above where we were this time last year,” Collins said. “We didn’t feel the need to extend that deadline because we only have limited scholarships, and we didn’t want to open it up to more students and turn them down for scholarships for out-of-state.”
Ultimately, Boise State wants to give as many opportunities to Idaho students as possible, according to Collins.
“In Idaho, numbers are down throughout the state. We want to give Idaho students as much time as we can to hopefully get life back to normal and come to Boise State,” Collins said.
Graphic by Alieha Dryden | The Arbiter
While the scholarship and resident deadlines are not extended for out-of-state students, the intent to enroll deadline has been extended for all incoming students from May 1, 2021, to June 1, 2021, according to Collins.
At this time, Boise State does not intend for the new deadlines to be permanent for future semesters. Collins notes that the university is here to help all students with enrollment questions and concerns.
“If they have questions or concerns or they have financial issues, our offices are here to help them answer their questions and help them get to Boise State,” Collins said.For more information about important incoming freshman deadlines, visit the Boise State Admissions website. For more information about financial aid and scholarships, visit the Boise State Financial Aid and Scholarships website.
