Okay… now this is getting into a very debatable subject area.
Too many Males? because the percentages don’t line up with the General Populous or the populous of the College gender split?
Do we argue there are too many males in Construction? In Oil Rig workers? In Firefighters or Police work?
How about “Too Many Females” in Nursing? or Veterinary Medicine (where it’s approaching 85%)? or psychology, education or social work etc etc? If women climb to 60+% in Medical, Dental, Law school enrollment (which isn’t that far off) should be begin a process to start shutting them out, in favor of underrepresented upper middle class white males?
I don’t know that this is really the debate/argument/discussion to have here.
NCSU has Poole, though it is not nearly as well regarded as KFBS or Kelley (Or Purdue Daniels for that matter).
Then you would need to do the same adjustments for IU for their business school, as Purdue is the STEM Engineering Public flagship in Indiana. And if I understand correctly, the current IU Kelley enrollment is around 2500-2800 per class, not total enrollment - and Purdue has Daniels, albeit much smaller than Kelley, so are we going to roll up Daniels into Kelley’s Numbers and combine IU and Purdue at large to do a comparison for UNC KFBS / NCSU Poole and UNC / NCSU General enrollment - That’s really getting into the weeds on the discussion specifically as it relates to IU-Kelley ADA/DA criteria, versus SA criteria increases and it’s reportedly small admissions staff resources.
Kelley admissions has said they want classes that have a better gender balance, that’s a primary reason why far more females are accepted via the DA review process. Again, IMO, this gender imbalance directly impacts the vibe at Kelley, which in turn leads to some females choosing not to attend or even apply. Nothing I’m saying is controversial, and the Kelley gender balance has nothing to do with the gender balance in the construction or any other industry.
But it is ‘controversial’ by the very presence - in pointing it out and suggesting things need to be changed on the ‘criteria for admissions’ to correct numbers from where they are to where one ‘thinks’ they should be in a classification which is “protected” from discrimination. (which is why I suggested it’s not fodder for this discussion)
This is not a novel problem or Kelley specific/only scenario where Gender Ratios don’t match either the populous at large or within the college enrollment or in a specific workforce. The ‘Vibe’ thing of male dominated can (and does) apply in the inverse as well as a damper on male applications or attendance in female dominated areas.
The introduction of criteria or thresholds/hurdles (or subject review policies) with the specific intent of advantaging or disadvantaging candidates on the basis of sex/gender is one of those things that can prove to be not only controversial but, as was the case with recent SCOTUS rulings on another ‘protected classification’ of race-based advantages/disadvantages, flat out illegal and result in significant consequences.
That’s one reason, of many, I don’t think it’s something to tie criteria of admission changes on. School X has 68% male enrollment in their classes for the past 10-20 etc years. “We’ve decided we need more women to balance things out, so we changed our criteria of admissions review, with the (sole) purpose of re-aligning who we admit and who chooses to attend, and now in a two year span we have dropped male enrollment by 25%”. Your honor, I would like to introduce exhibit 1.
If we switched that same thought process from Sex/Gender to Asian/Black or Asian/Hispanic… you’d be smack dab into the problem Harvard, UNC and Michigan were smacked down on.
Now if the criteria of increasing the ADA GPA to 3.9/4.0 (UW) GPA ultimately results in 50% male / 50% female and that GPA threshold is applied uniformly across the applicant pool - and it achieves this result - that’s a different story. However, if School X comes out to say, we’ve got too many white guys, so we are going to increase the base GPA in order to weed a clump of them out so we will admit more women (or at least have a higher percentage than we have historically) - that may seem a bit discriminatory.
Both the classes of 2027 and 2028 (who will be juniors and sophomores respectively next year) have close to a 50-50 split between both genders, so this debate is moot.
Don’t have the most recent data available but for class of 2026 finance majors were 80% male. Like it or not, they fall behind their peers. Most top undergrad business programs, entry level elite finance positions (IB, Consulting, etc) and MBA programs are going to aim for closer to 50/50 split on gender. I’m certain Kelley has the same goal. More female representation is valued period. We have made progress but female representation in the board room, c level roles, and high finance (hedge funds) still falls short. The best way to have more qualified (and I emphasize qualified) women at the top is to admit them to programs like Kelley. Better yet, get them interested in high school.
This is especially important in finance where gender balance in particular (and diversity in general) means more profitable decisions and fewer reckless ones. For whatever reason (I’m sure they studied it too but I don’t know the results) heavily or exclusively male groups don’t work as well in terms of bottom line.
In keeping with this threads theme - UNC-Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business Schools has not only expanded their UBP student numbers but also changed up their admissions process.
Whereas for decade(s), it was very selective and quite small numbers to have a Direct Admit out of High School, and most of the KFBS students did an application after their first year (the first few weeks of Sophomore year) for a spring Sophomore year start. They are now moving towards a Direct Admissions process for what sounds like the majority of their UBP slots, out of high school you still take ‘general education’ courses plus a couple KFBS B-school prep courses like evrybody else, but you do not need an application to get into KFBS and simply start as a first semester Sophomore.
The number of “in-progress” students who will apply to KFBS and be admitted as Sophomores(+) appears to be slated to be significantly reduced. There are no “Standard Admit” criteria for auto admissions nor is their an ADA standard like Kelley however.
*> ## *Easing stress, increasing access
*> * > The FBA model helps UNC remain competitive with peer institutions that offer direct admission to business majors and provides peace of mind for students and families seeking a more predictable college experience.
*> * > This change addresses wellness concerns associated with the intra-transfer application process. The high-stakes nature of applying to the UBP after their first year has contributed to stress and anxiety for students who are still making the transition from high school to college.
*> * > It also aligns with the State of North Carolina’s request to increase UBP enrollment, reflecting the growing demand for UNC graduates who contribute to the region’s economic development.
*> * > The UBP will admit approximately 200 FBA students in 2025 and up to 400 in 2026. Ultimately, this new admissions model will mean the majority of UBP students will be admitted when they enroll at UNC. The intra-transfer application process remains for students who discover their interest in business after arriving at UNC."
Hopefully they can meaningfully increase the size of the KF class as well. I am certain the demand is there. There is no glory in public schools having a very low acceptance rate for in demand programs/majors. Just IMO of course.
Reportedly with the opening of the new building Bell Hall - they are aimed at somewhere between 50-75% increase in the total UBP numbers. It will still be a relatively small program.
On the same topic, Penn State Smeal is moving to that same process for Fall 2026.
Right now, a small percentage are admitted as Smeal Premajors and most students are admitted first as DUS “pivot to anything Premajors”.
It’s extremely difficult to be admitted as Smeal Pre Major and it brings no advantage except for students with honors level grades and activities who can apply to Sapphire (business honors, separate from Schreyer). All DUS& PreSmeal students have to take and pass the same classes (it’s the process for all majors: you can’t major in communication if you can’t pass first year English&Communication classes by Sophomore year, you can’t major in Engineering if you can’t pass Calculus1 and Physics 1 by Sophomore year, etc.) Then all PreSmeal and DUS students with the required courses and passes can continue in their chosen major, sorted by GPA (3.5 for finance, 3.2 for others). The process is selective but non competitive. So basically pre-Smeal and DUS were the same. Because Penn State has a reconsideration system, students who applied to Smeal and were not admitted to University Park but a branch campus, asked for reconsideration for DUS and typically got in. So it was double the work for the admission team, delayed decisions - not to mention a confusing process to a lot of applicants.
Starting with the entering class of 2026, students will be preadmitted to Smeal. The preadmits will still have to pass a specific set of classes but they’ll be guaranteed a Smeal major according to GPA (similar process as now but with the clear Premajor title). DUS students will have to compete for the slots left by the Smeal Premajors. Clearer for Smeal Premajors but for DUS students who won’t have as many options as before.
Looks like Kelley has overhauled their direct admissions and eliminated the automatic direct admissions two category criteria.
Fall 2026: Kelley direct admission comprehensive review process
Blockquote
Beginning in Fall 2026, the Kelley School of Business will use a comprehensive review process to consider students for direct admission. This approach looks beyond test scores and GPAs—placing greater emphasis on the rigor of high school coursework and a student’s overall potential for success in business. At the center of this process is the Kelley Prospect Inventory (KPI), which allows students to share their academic journey and interest in business with the Kelley Admissions team. Students must complete this form—available in the IU Portal—to be considered for direct admission. This change reflects Kelley’s commitment to fairness, academic excellence, and expanding opportunity, ensuring high-achieving students from all backgrounds are considered for direct admission.
Blockquote
At the end of the day - I wonder how closely correlated the GPA and SAT/ACT criteria will be towards Direct Admissions outcomes thru a comprehensive lens.
From what I know in the past few years, a lot of the kids who got in through comprehensive review either took a lot of credits (19+), took double degrees, had really high-end leadership positions (incoming President of clubs) or some other standout achievement. I wonder if combined, these changes alongside the Direct Admit changes will streamline the class size?
for DUS students who won’t have as many options as before.