Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel presented admissions statistics for the Class of 2015 at Thursday evening's faculty meeting, stating that Brandeis has seen an increased acceptance rate and a decrease in the matriculation rate, while noting that the Class of 2015 is "one of the highest-caliber classes that we've had."

According to the presentation, the number of students who applied to Brandeis for fall enrollment was 8,917, up from 7,694 in 2010. 3,566 were accepted for a rate of 39.99 percent, an increase of two and a half percent from last year.

Out of those, 858 matriculated, or 24.06 percent, a decrease of just over two percent from last year.

The acceptance rate has fluctuated around 40 percent for the past two years, while the matriculation rate, or yield, has decreased steadily.

Flagel said that the Office of Admissions' goals were to "bring in a size class at 855 [and] to bring in an outstanding caliber class," adding that "there was not a targeted accept or yield rate."

In his presentation, Flagel called the data "a very nice trend in upward momentum of the number of people interested in [Brandeis]."

Overall, SAT scores, GPA and class rank were higher than previous years, with over half of students in the top ten percent of SAT scorers nationally.

However, Flagel downplayed the importance of such rankings, calling them "nearly as statistically relevant as shoe size."

"All of them are indicators, [but] none of them tell the story of who our students are," he added.

Flagel did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

—Sara Dejene contributed reporting.