At this year’s graduation ceremony, commencement speaker Madelyn Rice rapped “some of us are college, some to the military, some to work spaces but all of us are going to new places.” She continued on more seriously to say “we have built this community as much as it has built us and now we are taking all of ourselves into the next challenge.”
As the Class of 2016 embarks on its new challenges, let’s take a look at where they are headed.
Though small, with only 388 members, the Class of 2016 is accomplished. Here are some trends about the Class of 2016 and their college decisions.
Seven students from the class of 2016 are going to Ivy League colleges. According to Guidance Department Chair Tara Leja, since 2009, “we have averaged 13 students attending Ivy League schools, ranging from two to 15 students per year.”
Students from the class of 2016 are also going to other places, Leja says: top tier schools such The University of Notre Dame, Georgetown University, Stanford University and many more.
Students continue to choose schools based on financial packages, as well as other factors such as size, location and choice of majors.
“With Pitt’s increase in academic standards, many of our top students will use Pitt as a safety school, and they are willing to go there if they don’t get into any of their other choices,” Leja says. “More students are selecting CCAC [Community College of Allegheny] and state schools for price. And, schools in Ohio continue to compete with our state schools.”
Leja says the class of 2016 has “Great personalities, full of future leaders [and] many accomplishments athletically, fine arts [and] academically.”
As expected, Pennsylvania colleges are the most popular with the class of 2016. Pennsylvania is followed closely by Ohio, then New York. Pennsylvania and Ohio have held their rank for many years, but each class has a unique third most popular state. For the class of 2015, it was Indiana and for the class of 2014 it was Virginia.
Pitt and Penn State still have a classic rivalry. For the past two years, more students have attended Pitt than Penn State; however, as Leja pointed out, college trends tend to be cyclical and the number of students attending either university will most likely fluctuate in coming years.
ALABAMA
University of Alabama
ARIZONA
Arizona State University
University of Arizona
CALIFORNIA
Irvine Valley College
Santa Monica College
Stanford University
UC Berkeley
UCLA
University of San Francisco
COLORADO
University of Colorado (2)
University of Denver
CONNECTICUT
Yale University (2)
DELAWARE
University of Delaware
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Catholic University of America
Georgetown University (2)
George Washington University (2)
FLORIDA
Embry Riddle University
Florida State College at Jacksonville
University of Central Florida
University of Miami
ILLINOIS
DePaul University (3)
INDIANA
Earlham College
Indiana University
Purdue University
Saint Mary’s College
University of Notre Dame (5)
MAINE
Bowdoin College
Unity College
MARYLAND
John Hopkins University
University of Maryland
MASSACHUSETTS
Babson College
Bentley University
Boston College (2)
Boston University
Brandeis University
Emerson College
Northeastern University
MICHIGAN
Michigan State University
University of Michigan (2)
MINNESOTA
Carleton College
MISSOURI
Washington University
at St. Louis
NEBRASKA
University of Nebraska
at Lincoln
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Dartmouth College
NEW JERSEY
Rowan University
NEW YORK
Cornell University
Ithaca College
Marist College
New York University
Niagara University
Onondaga Community College
Rochester Institute of Technology (4)
Saint Bonaventure University
Siena College
Syracuse University
NORTH CAROLINA
Elon University (2)
High Point University
North Carolina State
University of North Carolina
at Charlotte
OHIO
Ashland University
Baldwin Wallace University
Bowling Green State University (4)
Case Western Reserve University (3)
College of Wooster (4)
Columbus Community College
John Carroll University (6)
Kent State University (3)
Miami University
Oberlin College
Ohio Community College
Ohio Northern University
Ohio Wesleyan University
The Ohio State University (9)
University of Akron
University of Cincinnati (2)
University of Dayton (11)
University of Findlay
Youngstown State University
PENNSYLVANIA
Allegheny College (4)
Bucknell University (2)
California University of Pennsylvania
Carnegie Mellon University (6)
Chatham University (2)
CCAC-Community College
of Allegheny County (27
Community College North
Dickinson College
Duquesne University (15)
Franklin and Marshall College
Indiana University of Pennsylvania (10)
Juniata College
La Roche College
Lehigh University
Mercyhurst University
Muhlenberg College
Pennsylvania State University Beaver
Pennsylvania State University Erie, The Behrend College (2)
Pennsylvania State University Schreyer Honors College (4)
Pennsylvania State University at University Park (20)
Pittsburgh Technical Institute
Point Park University
Robert Morris University (7)
Rosedale Technical College (3)
Saint Francis University
Saint Vincent College (3)
Seton Hill University (2)Slippery Rock University (5)
South Hills Beauty Academy
Temple University (3)
University of Pennsylvania (3)
University of Pittsburgh (29)
University of Pittsburgh Greensburg (2)
University of Pittsburgh Johnstown (6)
Valley Forge Military College
Villanova University (4)
Washington and Jefferson College (3)
Waynesburg University (3)
Wilkes University
RHODE ISLAND
Providence College
Roger Williams University
SOUTH CAROLINA
Clemson University (2)
Coastal Carolina University
College of Charleston
TENNESSEE
Belmont University (2)
Rhodes College
TEXAS
Southern Methodist University
University of Texas
UTAH
Brigham Young University
VERMONT
University of Vermont (2)
VIRGINIA
College of William and Mary(2)
James Madison University
Liberty University
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Tech (3)
WASHINGTON
University of Washington
WEST VIRGINIA
Pierpont Community College
West Virginia University (3)
Wheeling Jesuit University
WISCONSIN
Beloit College
University of Wisconsin
CANADA
University of British Columbia
University of Toronto
GAP YEAR (12)
MILITARY
Air Force (3)
Navy