Ball State University has a larger freshman class than last year. And as IPR’s Stephanie Wiechmann reports, officials believe being a “test-optional” school is helping.

This fall, 3,482 freshmen are attending Ball State. That’s a six percent increase from last year. And it’s coming at a time when Indiana education officials say fewer Hoosier high school graduates are choosing college.

Read More: College Enrollment For Hoosier High Schoolers Is Still Going Down. It Will Likely Get Worse

As for those new freshmen, 91 percent are from Indiana and one quarter are students of color.

Ball State says it admitted 64 percent of this year’s freshmen as “test-optional” applicants, an option since Fall 2019.  University president Geoffrey Mearns says more students are using it and the option is a permanent change.

But he says some other “test-flexible” schools, like Purdue University, are planning to bring test requirements back in the next few years.

“They’ve expressed their intention to do it.  It will be interesting to see whether, when the fall of 2024 rolls around, they [do it.]”

Pre-pandemic, Ball State credited test-optional applications as helping it achieve record enrollment.

Ball State will also add the ability to use the national Common Application for next fall’s class.