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Vol. 17 No. 6
February 2003
College Savings Plans
Hit Hard
THE POPULAR 529 COLLEGE Saving
Plans, promoted by many state governments and private investment
firms, and that focused primarily on stock investments, declined
an average of 21.2 percent from January to October 2002, according
to Morningstar Inc.
That's just slightly better than the plunge for the Standard
& Poor's 500-stock index, which fell 21.8 percent during
the same period, noted a recent New York Times analysis.
However, the 529 plans that focused on bonds actually gained
2.5 percent last year. And 529 "age-based plans," that
shift investments from stocks to bonds as a child matures, lost
an average of 16 percent. The "age-based plans" are
the most popular of the 529 plans. They seek to grow the initial
investment and then protect the early gains.
But financial advisers told The Times that investors
should not panic. The 529 plans are designed for the long-term,
a decade or more. They say there is still plenty of time for
the plans to turn a substantial profit.
However, many 529 investors have already shifted their funds
from stocks to fixed-income funds. An estimated 40 percent of
the new investor assets placed in 529 plans managed by TIAA-CREF
are going to guaranteed investment options. The yield for these
is currently about 3 percent.
In Rhode Island, only about 12 percent of 529 investors are
choosing the all-stock option, down from 40 percent two years
ago.
However, The Times quoted one worried financial planner
who said, "But investors should be seeking to exceed the
rate of inflation and grow their college funds." So parents
are caught between market realities and their fears that they
will not be able to afford the future costs of college for their
children.
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A 20-Year Admission
Analysis
A NEW STUDY OF ADMISSIONS TRENDS
conducted by ACT, Inc., the Association for Institutional Research,
the College Board, the Educational Testing Service and the National
Association for College Admission Counseling has analyzed the
demographics, standards and equities among 3,000 colleges over
the past 20 years.
On the demographic front, "Trends in College Admission
2000" found that between 1979 and 1991 the number of high
school graduates dipped by 700,000.
MORE HEADING FOR COLLEGE
However, first-year college enrollment fell by just
14,000. That's because between 1979 and the late 1990s, the number
of high school graduates going on to college the following fall
increased from about 50 percent to nearly 62 percent. For black
students, the number of high school graduates going right to
college rose from about 45 percent to 60 percent; for Hispanic
students, it climbed from 40 percent to 50 percent.
During that same period, the average number of applications
per student rose from 2.4 to 3.2 to four-year public institutions
and from 3.3 to 4.4 for four-year private colleges.
LOWER YIELDS
This increase in students and applications translated
into decreases in "yields" for the colleges. The average
yield at four-year public schools dipped from 56 percent in 1970
to 46 percent in 2000. At four-year private colleges, the average
yield fell from 41 to 33 percent.
As a result, the marketing of colleges and universities aimed
at prospective students escalated. For example, in 1985 about
43 percent of colleges used the telephone to help recruit high
school students. By 2000, that number had increased to 60 percent.
Colleges also relied more on the College Board's Student Search
Service and the ACT's Educational Opportunity Service to identify
students for their direct mail campaigns.
MORE COMPETITION
The bottom line was that more public and private colleges
became "competitive" and more "selective,"
the category below competitive, while fewer offered "open"
admissions.
A majority of colleges also reported that over the past five
years, their standards for admission, especially for both test
scores and grades, had increased. In 1992, the average acceptance
rate at private colleges was 68 percent. By 1999, that number
had fallen to 60 percent.
But the number accepted remained constant at 68 percent among
public colleges and universities.
Most schools also reported that the importance of both high school
class rank and standardized test scores had increased steadily
since 1979.
DIVERSITY TRENDS
In 1999, Asian American students submitted the most
per-student applications-6.8 per student to public colleges and
universities, 9.6 to private colleges and universities. But that
year, only 46 percent of Asian-American students were accepted
to public schools and 57 percent to private institutions.
In 1999, African-American students submitted an average of
5.8 applications to public schools and 6.2 to private ones. About
50 percent of them were accepted to private colleges and 47 percent
to public colleges and universities. At the same time, 52 percent
of Hispanic students were accepted by private schools; 57 percent
at public ones.
Looking forward, the number of high school graduates will
continue to climb until about 2009 to about 3.2 million per year,
topping the old record of 3.1 million set in 1979.
To read a report of the study, go to: www.airweb.org/page.asp?page=347(.)
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Early Applications
Surge Again
WITH ALL THE PUBLICITY this
summer about early application programs at prestigious universities,
it is not surprising to see another surge in early applications
this fall.
The Harvard Crimson, for example, reports that a record
7,615 students applied this year through the school's Early Action
program, an increase of 24 percent. The number of early applications
from international students rose 46 percent, from 357 for last
year to 520 for this year.
William R. Fitzsimmons, Harvard's dean of admissions and financial
aid, said this tend should continue since Harvard has "a
new president and a new dean for whom internationalization is
certainly a very high priority."
Last year, however, Harvard admitted only 2,066 students from
both the early and traditional pool for a first-year class of
1,638 students.
Meanwhile, the Yale Daily News reported a 23 percent
surge in early applications, up to 2,600. Stanford recorded a
3 percent increase, with 2,465 applications. Georgetown saw early
applications increase from 4,400 for last year to 5,200 for this
year's freshman class.
Stephen Singer, director of college counseling at Horace Mann
High School in New York City, attributed the surge to "the
frenzy of early."
Meanwhile, both Stanford and Yale joined Harvard late last
fall in ending their Early Decision Programs, in which admitted
students had to make a binding decision to enter their institutions,
in favor of Early Action programs, in which students are not
bound to enter. The change will come this year for students applying
for the 2004-5 academic year.
The presidents of both institutions said they made their decisions
to take pressure off of highly-talented high school seniors who
felt they must apply early, because statistically they had a
better chance of being admitted than students in the traditional
pool.
"Early Decision programs help colleges more than applicants,"
Yale's president, Richard C. Levin, told The Yale Bulletin.
"It is our hope to take pressure off students in the early
cycle and restore a measure of reasoned choice to college admissions."
Yale College dean, Richard H. Brodhead, added, "We adopted
Early Decision for the sake of the rare student who knows exactly
where he or she wants to go by mid-fall of the senior year of
high school. We never meant the early cycle to become the normal
cycle."
A growing list of schools including the University of North
Carolina, Beloit and Mary Washington College have bowed to complaints
from parents, students and high school counselors about the pressures
of Early Decision. The decision may impact on the yield of these
colleges. And it may be costly, since it could encourage more
students who need financial assistance to apply early. Those
students won't be stuck with only one aid package to consider
when it comes time to make their final decisions, and it could
make the schools negotiate higher aid packages in the end.
While both Stanford and Yale have changed their basic early
policy, they joined schools like Brown and Princeton in opposition
to the guidelines of the National Association for College Admission
Counseling (NACAC) by prohibiting students who apply EA to their
institutions from applying at other schools. NACAC maintains
that Early Action programs should be truly non-binding in all
respects.
Not everyone is jumping on the bandwagon, however. Both the
University of Pennsylvania, which admits about 45 percent of
its first-year class through Early Decision, and Princeton, among
others, will keep Early Decision programs.
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Minority Affairs
Updates
Update on Affirmative Action. The U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing
a challenge to the use of affirmative action in admission to
the University of Michigan Law School. Recently 10 state attorneys-general
also submitted legal briefs calling for clarification of the
high court's position.
President Bush filed a brief mid-January opposing the University
of Michigan's plan as well, contending it imposed forms of quotas.
The President argued that he believes minority students can make
it in a competitive educational environment and that all our
schools should challenge and set high standards to be achieved
by individual effort. The Court will probably take time to consider
the arguments. But it could issue its decision by the end of
its term before this summer. CB will keep you updated.
Does Class Rank Work? Does one popular alternative,
using class-rank of high school seniors instead, work in equalizing
minority representation on campus?
"No," says the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in
its report, "Beyond Percentage Plans: The Challenge of Equal
Opportunity in Higher Education," which studied the impact
of the current plans in California, Florida and Texas. By themselves,
state plans that guarantee admissions based on class-rank do
not adequately improve representation of minority students at
public colleges and universities, the Commission argued.
(However, several members of the commission itself objected
that they had not been consulted in the report's development
or asked to vote on its conclusions, with which they differ.)
Instead, a model state plan suggested by the report would
promote university outreach to elementary and secondary schools;
involve a state plan to improve those schools; and allow top
students from high schools to attend any state school.
To access the report online, go to:www.usccr.gov(.)
Education a Priority for Hispanic Immigrants. The Pew
Hispanic Center recently released a report based on census material
from 1970-2000 that found more Hispanic immigrants are finishing
high school and going on to college. New arrivals from South
America and the Caribbean lead the way. But immigrants from Mexico
and Central America are less likely than their Latin American
neighbors to finish high school.
In 1970, just 28 percent of Hispanic immigrants age 25 and
older graduated from high school. By 2000, that number had almost
doubled to 59 percent. In 1970, just 53 percent of U.S.-born
Hispanics graduated from high school. In 2000, 87 percent had
received their high school degree.
Hispanic immigrants with at least two years of college rose
from 9 to 18 percent. U.S.-born Hispanics who finished two years
of college increased from 17 to 35 percent.
The report concluded that "in the coming decades, the
educational composition of the Latino foreign-born population
will begin to look more like that of the American native-born
population."
Latinos Parents Unfamiliar With College Requirements.
According to a recent study, 96 percent of Latinos have high
hopes for the educational future of their children. But this
new study by the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute Center for Latino
Educational Excellence found that 66 percent of Latino parents
were unfamiliar with college entrance exams such as the PSAT
or SAT, and many did not know the difference between a community
college and a four-year university.
High schools and colleges can make a big difference by making
sure all Hispanic parents get more key college admissions information
earlier in the educational experience of their children, the
Institute argued. Community groups also can help in this process.
So can English-speaking Hispanic students who often serve as
conduits of information to parents and other limited-English
speaking students.
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THE
COUNSELOR'S CORNER
THE GREENE REPORT
No Need To Stretch The Truth
WHEN STUDENTS WRITE THE APPLICATIONS
for college, they had better tell the truth. Paint a positive
picture; absolutely. But don't distort the facts, because colleges
are beginning to check out student stories more carefully.
The University of California system, the largest in the nation,
announced recently that beginning with the class of 2004 candidates,
its admissions office will carry out random checks of students'
applications to be certain the personal activities and accomplishments
they list are truthful. The university will use a "system-wide
verification process" to ask an unspecified number of applicants
to show evidence to support the claims they make on their activity
list and in their essays.
Last November, the California Board of Regents voted to implement
a new admissions policy that gives greater weight to personal
factors such as special talents, unique backgrounds and compelling
instances of overcoming social, economic, ethnic or physical
adversity. This comprehensive review policy is intended to give
economically and socially disadvantaged students a better chance
for admission into the highly competitive universities that comprise
the University of California system. But, as a result, the quest
for truth in presenting oneself for admissions has taken on a
more critical role.
This development is the latest evidence of the competition
for college admission that consumes the attention of parents,
high school students and the media. It seems that it was only
a matter of time before a university felt it necessary to formalize
a review process that has taken place quietly for years.
AVOID TEMPTATION
The competitive private universities across the nation
have long used personal criteria in their selection process in
their quest to build an interesting and diversified student body.
In any selective college admissions process, if a review of a
particular candidate's application creates the impression that
his or her credentials are too good to be true, there is the
possibility that the admissions staff will contact the student's
high school or the student to verify the facts. Applicants' claims
of their success as athletes, artists, student and community
leaders or survivors of major physical, family or social obstacles
have always been assumed to be honest and reliable.
But especially in today's competitive climate for limited
places at the top public and private institutions of higher learning,
these personal statements are now being subject to more overt
scrutiny. Duke University, for example, now asks candidates to
indicate what kind of help they received as they completed their
essays and applications, from whom, and whether it was useful.
With almost two million students heading to colleges this
year, it is understandable, though certainly not acceptable,
that students and their anxious parents might be tempted to stretch
the truth. Counselors need to urge them to avoid this temptation.
It simply is not worth the risk and, far more importantly, will
leave an individual with a lifelong sense that he did not play
fair and perhaps did not deserve that place in college.
As more colleges implement honor codes, they will also look
for strong evidence of good character traits, honesty and values.
Parents need to help their children balance their concern for
admission into a college with the vital life lesson of truth
and integrity. It is acceptable for students to get help preparing
or reviewing their applications from parents, counselors or teachers,
but it is essential that the work remain the student's own. The
real lesson is that hard work, energy, integrity and dedication
to a personal interest are the key ingredients for success in
school and in life.
WHAT REALLY COUNTS
Admissions officers at every kind and level of university
will tell you that a solid academic record, good test scores
and active engagement in one or two activities will form the
foundation for an acceptance into a respected institution. They
will look for consistency in a student's performance and activities,
and their presentation in their application.
So much attention has been given in the press to the role
of standardized tests in admission into college that the most
significant selection factor is often overlooked. The name of
the game has been in the past, and will continue to be, achievement
in the classroom, especially in the last two years of high school.
Grades in college preparatory courses are far and away the
single most important factor. Standardized test scores represent
the second major factor, but rank in importance well below academic
achievement in the classroom. Third in importance is class rank,
which reflects a combination of grades and level of courses taken
in most high schools.
Next in importance is the college application where students
are asked to write one or more personal statements in essay form.
The school counselor recommendation, teacher recommendation and
interview follow in that order. Those last three elements are
often referred to as "tip" factors in deciding who
to accept.
THE REAL MESSAGE
The message should be clear that those students who
put their focus and energies into taking pre-college academic
courses, and doing well in them, will create a wonderful snowball
effect that will ensure them acceptance to a worthy college.
They will garner a strong grade-point average, earn a high class
standing, receive positive counselor and teacher recommendations
and become better equipped to write thoughtful, well organized,
intelligent essays that can convince an admissions committee
that they want this candidate in their community.
Also, families should feel encouraged to learn that the ability
to pay for college tuition is at the very bottom of factors that
admissions committees weigh in selecting their class, especially
for strong academic achievers. While adequate financial aid may
not always be made available, students and their parents who
demonstrate financial need should not worry that they will be
at a major disadvantage in the selection process.
We must urge all students aspiring to a college education
and the quality of life that can result from it, to take high
level courses, work hard, learn to write well, and pursue their
college dreams, irrespective of standardized testing ability
or financial circumstances. And, moreover, they must honestly
relate their successes on their applications.
Howard Greene and Matthew Greene are counselors, authors,
CB advisors and, begininng in March, hosts of the PBS program
"Ten Steps to College with the Greenes" (check your
local listings for exact times). For more info see www.greenesguides.com
or their web link at www.collegeboundnews.com.
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ADMISSIONS
WATCH
The New Hot School...Cheap.
With the Bears on the markets still sleeping and many families
coming to grips with big, unexpected losses in their college
savings plans, the new hot schools, according to a recent Wall
Street Journal article, are the "cheap" ones. The
Journal reported that public universities are experiencing
a surge in applications, which will certainly boost competition
to get in.
Rutgers, for example, saw a three-fold increase in applications
over the same time last year. The University of Rhode Island
reported a 40 percent jump in its "open houses" for
potential applicants. And summer visits at the University of
Michigan soared by 37 percent.
"F.F. (Financially Feasible)" is what college counselor
Jane Webber Runte told the Journal she is stressing with
students and their families. She likes to recommend the University
of Virginia in Charlottesville and the State University of New
York at Binghamton. Binghamton may be more affordable for some
in-state students with tuition at $5,600 and for out-of-staters
at $8,300.
The Journal also predicted marquee schools will still
see heavy competition, but may post longer wait lists while the
economy sorts itself out. However, some experts expect tuition
at public schools to rise by as much as 10 percent, since the
states have taken a hit during the recession.
3.1 Million 2003 Grads.
How is competition for admissions this year? Sizzling, according
to some early reports. Robert Franek, editorial director of the
Princeton Review, told the Associated Press that most students
it sees are filling out between six and10 applications. The ease
of online applications is helping to fuel the surge. Rowan University
in New Jersey saw requests for applications skyrocket by 3,000
for this year. "We're expecting an avalanche based on that
statistic alone," Marvin Sills, director of admissions,
told the AP. The University of Missouri and Pomona College in
California reported similar experiences.
10 Largest Catholic Universities.
DePaul University in Chicago has grown into the largest Catholic
university, and the eighth largest private university in the
nation, according to 2002 numbers. Counting all its graduate
and professional programs, DePaul now attracts 23,227 students,
an increase of 1,864 over last year. DePaul's freshman class
of 2,256 is 17 percent larger than just two years ago. It received
14,343 applications for the fall of 2002.
The next largest Catholic universities, in order of size:
St. John's (NY); Fordham; Boston C.; Loyola University Chicago;
Georgetown (D.C.); U. of Notre Dame; St. Louis; Marquette; Dayton.
(The 10 largest private universities are: New York U.; Brigham
Young; U. Southern California; Boston U.; Harvard; Columbia;
Northwestern; DePaul; George Washington; U. Pennsylvania.)
Canada's Top Schools. Maclean's
magazine has issued its annual list of top Canadian colleges:
Number one research school is the University of Toronto; the
top comprehensive school is the University of Guelph and top
undergraduate institution is St. Francis Xavier University.
Largest Class in Years.
According to the Winter issue of Washington College Magazine,
Washington College received a record number of applications for
this year's entering class. Of 2,032 applicants, 1,310 were offered
admission. The Class of 2006 is 369 students from 20 states and
13 countries. Washington also recently announced it has added
Arabic to its foreign language offerings and expanded its study
abroad options to include Morocco and Hong Kong. Washington C.
also offers Chinese language instruction.
Smaller Class at Berkeley.
This fall's freshman class at UC-Berkeley is smaller than last
year, according to a recent Contra Costa Times, with 3,655
students, a five percent decrease from last year. Berkeley received
36,000 applications, accepting roughly one in four.
Admissions Profiles. Here's
two more snapshots from CB's National Survey 2002.
Stony Brook University. In fall 2002, SBU (SUNY)
attracted a total of 16,849 applications, accepted 9,087 and
posted a 26 percent yield to field a first-year class of 2,390.
Included in these numbers were 1,476 early applications, 1,093
of whom were admitted, 12 percent of the new first-year class.
Also, 1,320 students transferred to SBU. About 64 percent of
SBU students receive financial aid. The most popular majors on
campus: psychology, business, computer science and biology.
New York University. In 2002, New York University
received a total of 29,202 applications, accepted 8,019 and posted
a yield of 39 percent to field a first-year class of 3,763. Included
among these numbers were 2,935 early applications, 1,139 of whom
were admitted, 32 percent of the new first-year class. Also,
190 students transferred to NYU. About 70 percent receive financial
aid.
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NEWS YOU
CAN USE
Women Vets. The old
profession is changing. It was once the domain of men, but now
71 percent of veterinary students at the nation's 27 veterinary
schools are women, according to Veterinary Economics Magazine.
As a result, just 54 percent of veterinarians are men. And soon,
women will outnumber them. One reason: the work is no longer
centered on the farm. Much of the business is devoted to the
care of family pets such as cats and dogs.
Spring Job Prospects Bleak.
The high hopes of many spring graduates for high-paying jobs,
or for that matter any job, may have to be put on hold, according
to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
The group predicts employers will hire 3.6 fewer graduates
this year than last, when hiring plummeted by 36 percent. That's
particularly bad news for graduates whose student loans begin
coming due right after they leave school.
Summer Study. But high
school students who don't have to find a career yet can check
out some of the summer study options at www.summerfun.com, a
web site of academic options from Summer Discovery in Roslyn,
New York, which profiles educational opportunities on college
campuses throughout the country. Programs range from biology
at UCLA to film at U of Vermont.
Game Designers. Where can
students turn to learn how to design computer games? Try Rochester
Institute of Technology. RIT boosts the nation's first program
in computer game design.
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COLLEGE BOUND's Publisher/Editor: R. Craig
Sautter, DePaul University; Chief Operating Officer: Sally
Reed; Contributor: Marc Davis; Circulation: Irma
Gonzalez-Hider; Illustration: Louis Coronel; Board
of Advisors: Rosita Fernandez-Rojo, Choate-Rosemary Hall;
Claire D. Friedlander, Bedford (N.Y.) Central School District;
Howard Greene, author, The Greenes' Guides to Educational
Planning Series; Frank C. Leana, Ph.D., educational
counselor; Virginia Vogel, Educational Guidance Services;
M. Fredric Volkmann, Washington University in St. Louis,
Mary Ann Willis, Bayside Academy (Daphne, Ala.).
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