Following the May 1 deadline, only 445 first-year students have committed to attending DePauw University in fall of 2019, President Mark McCoy announced at the end of Monday’s monthly faculty meeting. This means the incoming class could be nearly 20% smaller than the goal size as well as 20% smaller than the class of 2022.

The current summer melt rate at DePauw University is more than double last year’s recorded statistics, as the 48 empty desks at the University indicate.   The term “summer melt” refers to...