The slogan on Temple’s undergraduate admissions brochures is “Come See for Yourself.” Lately, record numbers of visitors have been taking that advice.

Temple’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions recently announced that 30,042 prospective students and their families, friends and counselors visited Temple in 2007 — an all-time high, and nearly 20 percent more visitors than in 2006.

Niki Mendrinos, associate director for campus visit programs and special events, estimates that the number of admissions-related visitors coming to Temple each year has more than doubled since 2004.

“Temple is hot, hot, hot,” Mendrinos said from her office in Temple's Welcome Center, where prospective students and their entourages swarm like bees when high school students are on spring break. More than 100 people attended many of the twice-daily information sessions and campus tours at the Welcome Center last week.

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions has reported a surge in attendance at all admissions events, including weekday and Saturday programs, group tours, open houses for prospective students and "Experience Temple" days for admitted students. The number of independently scheduled group tours increased from 40 in the summer of 2006 to 53 in the summer of 2007. Attendance at fall open houses rose from 3,400 in 2006 to 3,900 in 2007.

The rising tide of visiting prospective students has been matched by recent increases in undergraduate applications, which are up about 44 percent since 2000.

"The buzz about Temple has spread," Mendrinos said. "Visitors are coming from different states, and the number of international visitors has skyrocketed. We’re also seeing a huge jump in the number of Temple alumni who are bringing their kids to see Temple."

Temple Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management Timm Rinehart says that Temple’s “Come See for Yourself” campaign makes sense because visitors like what they see when they come to campus, and a satisfied visitor is more likely to choose Temple.

Allison Kim, a freshman from Hatboro, Pa., in the College of Liberal Arts, is one such satisfied customer. A campus tour she took as a high school student sold her on Temple.

“I had visited a couple of colleges and was having a lot of trouble deciding, but after I visited Temple, it was a done deal,” said Kim, who chose Temple over Villanova and Bryn Mawr. “I liked the look of the campus — it felt safe, with a lot of security — and there seemed to be a lot of activities and events going on. It wasn’t difficult to choose.”

One person who isn’t surprised by the rapid growth of visits to Temple is Todd Hoffman of One Big Campus and Campus Visit/Philadelphia, local partnerships created to foster campus visits and student life in Philadelphia.

“As the most recognized public institution in the city, Temple is in a prime position to benefit from Philadelphia’s dramatic rise in popularity as a college town,” Hoffman said. “More and more students think that Philadelphia is cool, so Temple’s sitting in the catbird seat.”

The economy of the Philadelphia region also gets a big boost from Temple’s ascent as a college-visit hot spot. According to the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, out-of-town leisure visitors spend an average of $303 each visit in area hotels, restaurants and stores.