Gender and age distribution * Ethnicity and geography * Alma maters * Majors * Work experience
A record number of new students--136--entered the MLIS program in the fall of 2007, 69 more than in the fall of 2006. These students joined 217 continuing students, making a total of 353, about the same as the previous year's total. Thirty of the new students were enrolled in the online MLIS degree program, most of them in the school librarianship specialty, with the rest in the digital librarianship track.
While the majority in the last five years entrolled as full time students, the Fall 2007 contingent reversed that trend somewhat, with 70 attending part time and 66 full time.
As is true of the profession as a whole, the class is largely female: 103 women (76%) to 33 men (24%).These percentages hardly ever vary by more than a point or two, but both last year and this year saw a greater proportion of men than usual. The age distribution also is atypical, with 60% under the age of 30. The remaining 40% are fairly evenly distributed, but with fewer than usual over the age of 50. Overall, the distance education cohort is older than the on-campus group, with only 31% under 30.
| Age | N | % |
21-24 | 43 | 32 |
25-29 | 38 | 28 |
30-34 | 10 | 7 |
35-39 | 9 | 7 |
40-44 | 11 | 8 |
45-49 | 12 | 9 |
50+ | 12 | 9 |
Ethnicity continues to be less diverse than we would like. The class is overwhelmingly white, with 6 African Americans, 8 Asian Americans, 3 of Puerto Rican and 1 of Hispanic background. Three students with permanent residence status are originally from Uruguay, India, and China. In addition, there were several international students, 3 from China, 1 from Liberia, and a Fulbright recipient from Spain. Residentially, the class is equally homogeneous. The vast majority, 111 (82%) are New Jersey residents. There were 5 from New York, 4 from Pennsylvania, 4 from Maryland, and one each from California, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Minnesota, Maine, and Virginia. Even the online students continue to be almost entirely from New Jersey.
As one might expect, many students graduated from local schools: 61 bachelor's degrees are from New Jersey institutions, including 30 from Rutgers. Other New Jersey bachelors' alma maters are: The College of New Jersey, 9; Montclair 4; 3 each from Thomas Edison and Ramapo; 2 each from Stockton and Centenary; and 1 each from College of St. Elizabeth, Stevens, NJIT, Kean, Monmouth, Drew, Rider, and Jersey City.
After New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York are the state with the most institutions from which this entering class earned bachelor's degrees. Pennsylvania sent one student each from Albright, Juniata, Penn, Lehigh, Indiana,Haverford, Gettysburgh, York, Lancaster Bible, Scranton, and Messiah; two came from Moravian. Sixteen students attended 11 institutions in New YOrk: 4 from NYU, 3 from Cornell, and one each from Hamilton, Vassar, Manhattanville, Syracuse, St. John's, SUNY Geneseo, SUNY Binghamton, Fordham, and St. Lawrence. Massachusetts sent one each from Emmanuel, MIT, Wellesley, Mount Holyoke, Wheaton, and Boston University. Ohio sent one each from Ohio State, Wooster College, and Ohio Northern. Three students attended Fairfield and Wesleyan in Connecticut. Three students attended college in Maryland, two at the University of Maryland, and one at McDaniel. Two University of California campuses sent one student each: Santa Barbara and San Diego. Virginia is also represented by 2 institutions, James Madison and Hollins, with one each. The following also contributed to the mix, with one each: Purdue, Florida State, Catholic University, St. Catherine's, University of Chicago, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Colby-Sawyer, and Guilford in North Carolina. International institutions include the Universities of Uruguay, Delhi, Beijing, Liberia, Carlos III, and Liverpool.
Undergraduate majors vary widely but, as always, English heads the list with 24. History is next with 17 majors. Thirteen degrees were in education, 10 in the arts, 9 in communication, 8 in aspects of business, 6 in liberal arts, and 5 in political science. Four each were in sociology, biology, computer science, psychology, and anthropology. Three each were in geography, economics, chemistry, and languages. Two students each majored in religion, math/statistics, information science, and philosophy. The rest were one each in social work, immigration, women's studies, classics, engineering, agriculture, medical technology, and environment. Some students completed double majors..
Twenty-eight of the entering students already have graduate degrees. It is interesting to note that 8 master's and 1 JD are held by members of the online cohort. Thus 30% of the online group have advanced degrees, while only 18% of the on-campus students do. The graduate areas of study include master's degrees in education, business, history, music, French, English, African American Studies, criminology, librarianship, economics, math/statistics, and communication. In addition, there are two lawyers and a PhD in chemistry. Granting institutions include Rutgers, Columbia Teachers' College, University of California-Santa Barbara, University of Bombay, The College of New Jersey, Fashion Institute of Technology, Mannes/New School of Music, University of Delaware, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Mercy College, Jersey City, Temple, Rowan, Appalachian State, Pratt, Marquette, Johns Hopkins, Rider, Xavier, Columbia, and University of Connecticut.
Information on work experience indicates that 68 already have library experience. Another 20 are in education; 5 in the book trade; 4 each in communication, writing/research, and information technology; 2 in business; 1 in archives; 1 in historical preservation; 1 in the information industry and 1 in the arts.
As in the past, the entering class of fall 2007 brings the kind of diverse academic and work backgrounds to SCILS that are essential to a rich educational experience for everyone in the program, and eventually for the profession.