Not entirely sure about the acceptance rate situation but part of the Path to Prominence plan is to expand the undergrad population by 1,000 students over a decade, as well as adding 100 new faculty and 500 additional grad students. Also, the number of Chinese applicants has been down the last 2 years due to Covid and they make up the largest population of international students on campus visit. There’s been a large amount of new construction and renovation including the opening of the new health sciences college. Maybe they accepted more because they need more kids and Covid has made yield prediction more difficult?
Personally I think they’re stretching themselves a bit thin and should give some thought to returning to their core strengths along w their excellent interdisciplinary programs. Given that the HS population is declining I’m not clear why Lehigh felt expansion was necessary. They may need to re-evaluate their plans. I hope the new President is up to the task.