Data reveals BYU as 'most desirable' college in Utah

PROVO — Brigham Young University was recently named the "most desirable" college in Utah.

The rankings were determined by the number of prospective students who applied to the undergraduate programs at 4-year schools with housing for the 2013-14 school year. BYU came out on top in Utah with 11,423 applicants, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics.

A map showing the most desirable college in each state based on the NCES data was created by the website eCollegeFinder.

The number of applicants for BYU and the University of Utah was extremely close, according to the NCES. Only 69 more people applied to BYU than the U. However, the numbers for the two schools diverge when looking at the number of prospective students who were accepted and then actually enrolled at each school.

BYU only admitted 49 percent of applicants, but 78 percent of the students who were accepted ultimately enrolled at the school. In contrast, the U. accepted 82 percent of students, but only 34 percent of prospective students ended up enrolling at the school.

Utah State University had 9,052 people apply to its undergraduate program in 2012. Of that, 97 percent of prospective students were admitted and 44 percent enrolled at the school. Utah Valley University has an open-enrollment policy.

5 colleges with the most applications:

1. University of California Los Angeles: 72,676
2. New York University: 57,552
3. Pennsylvania State University: 47,552
4. Northeastern University: 47,364
5. University of Michigan Ann Arbor: 46,813 5 colleges with the least amount of applications:1. University of Alaska Anchorage: 3,062
6. University of Wyoming: 4,181
7. South Dakota State University: 4,851
8. North Dakota State University: 5,812
9. University of Hawaii at Manoa: 6,901

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