What is Enrollment Control?
Administrative Enrollment Control is the placement of a limit on the number of students who are
admitted to a particular major during their entry-to-major pool semester (spring semester of the second year).
Each major under enrollment control is authorized to admit a certain number of qualified students each year.
At the same time, each major under enrollment control is authorized to guarantee admission to the major for
qualified students who have a specified cumulative GPA.
Why Enrollment Control?
The University's Central Enrollment Management Committee can authorize a college to limit the
number of students that may be admitted to a particular major in any one year. That authorization is given only
if it can be shown that the demand for admission to the particular major exceeds the ability and capacity of the
department to provide a quality education to all in the major. Since the demand for any major tends to be
cyclical, the University may conclude that increasing the size of, and resources in a department may not be
practical or may not be accomplished in a timely manner to handle the demand. The only way to cope with an
increase in demand, therefore, is to limit the number of students admitted to such a major until either the
demand decreases or the resources (faculty, labs, equipment, etc.) can increase.
When Are Decisions Made about Majors under Enrollment Control?
Requests to maintain or impose new enrollment controls are reviewed in the early part of every
spring semester. Decisions about, and authorization for limiting enrollment in any major are done prior to the
deadline for acceptance of admission to Penn State for entering first-year students. These decisions about majors
under enrollment control are therefore made two years prior to their implementation. For example, the authorization
for imposing enrollment limits was made in February 2002 and was implemented for the first-year students who
entered the University in summer 2002, fall 2002, and spring 2003 and then requested a major in spring 2004.
The College of Engineering majors that are under enrollment control are identified and made
known by the University through various media. Entering students are also informed about the majors under
enrollment control during the First-Year, Testing, Consulting and Advising Program (FTCAP). The information is
published in the College of Engineering Undergraduate Programs Guide given to every entering student during
FTCAP.
How Does the College of Engineering Implement the Enrollment Controls?
The entry-to-major process for the majors under enrollment control is described online at
Majors Under Enrollment Control.