It was April 2023. U of T Scarborough had recently been awarded an unprecedented 300 additional undergraduate BSc seats from the provincial government, as part of the Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health (SAMIH). With enrolment challenges widespread across North America, the concept of attracting over 300 new students, possibly 500 students with attrition, in a very competitive market, truly seemed unattainable.

Our timelines were extremely tight. We had just five months to develop, package and launch the newly formed Health Sciences stream. We could not just rely on what we have always done, we knew we had to approach things differently and fast. The goal: attract over 3000 net new domestic applications in the Sciences to yield 500 incoming students for September 2024.

With our tight timelines and overall enrolment declines, frankly this goal seemed impossible. But thanks to our tri-campus collaborative approach, research-based decision making, consistent career focused messaging, curriculum that met market demands, an all-star student recruitment and admissions team and an award-winning marketing communications strategy – hear how we not only met our goals, we surpassed them!!

A quick look at results from year one:

• 36% of our science applicants chose the newly formed health sciences stream
• Domestic applications to SAMIH admission categories increased by 17% overall
• Domestic applications to co-op life sciences increased by 176%
• Goal of attracting 500 more domestic BSc students, resulted in 512 additional BSc students and 769 students to the health sciences stream

Looking ahead to 2025 (year two)

• Intake is looking very strong with a 58% increase in applications over 2024
• Health sciences is quickly becoming the most in demand program offering for U of T Scarborough