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Vol. 21 No. 8
April 2007
Admissions Matters
WHILE APRIL LETTERS
of acceptance (or not) are being mailed to college-bound students
around the globe as CB went to press, here are some more
reports from the field about the number of applications that
admissions officers faced this year.
Binghamton Bounds. The number of applications to Binghamton
U. of the State University of New York system is up significantly
over last year's 22,853. Brian Hazlett, senior associate director
of admissions, told the Press & Sun-Bulletin that
by mid-January the school had seen a 48 percent increase in out-of-state
applications. By February, the total number was at 24,700. In
2002, Binghamton drew 18,315 applications and accepted 7,687.
By 2006, it admitted over 28 percent more students, or 9,861.
Binghamton also reported increased visits from the children of
alumni.
Chicago Climbs. The U. of Chicago received 10,400 applications
this year, the most in the school's history, and an 8 percent
increase over last year. Some 3,065 of those applied Early Action.
Michael Behnke, dean of college enrollment, told the university's
Chicago Chronicle that the record number could be attributed
to Chicago's top 10 ranking in the 2006 U.S. News and World
Report and its No. 1 ranking in the Princeton Review's
"Best Overall Academic Experience for Undergraduates."
Denison U. Drops SAT. More than 5,000 students applied
for Denison's incoming class of about 580. Students applying
to Denison for the fall of 2008 will have a "test optional"
policy. Test scores will only be considered if students choose
to submit them. "This option will make the Denison admissions
process more accessible to bright and talented individuals coming
from all segments of the population, including students of color,
first-generation college-goers and young people from less privileged
socioeconomic backgrounds," said Perry Robinson, vice president
and director of admissions.
Hamilton Eliminates Merit Scholarships. Beginning with
the fall of 2008, Hamilton C. in New York will "discontinue
our merit scholarship program so that we can provide more need-based
aid, " said Monica Inzer, dean of admission and financial
aid. "We believe we are the first college in the U.S. to
abandon its merit scholarship program." The new policy will
reallocate about $1 million each year for additional need-based
aid. Hamilton received 16 percent more applications than a year
ago and 8 percent more than its record total in 2001. Average
SAT score for entering students is approaching 1350; three-quarters
are in the top 10 percent of their graduating class.
Holy Cross Up. Applications were up 5 percent this
year over last year with over 7,054 applying for a place in the
class of 2011. That compares with 6,705 applications in 2006,
which was a 41 percent jump over the previous year. Applications
from students of color were up by 20 percent. Ann McDermott,
director of admissions, said, "These statistics show that
last year's record increase was not a one-time aberration."
Even though Holy Cross went test optional in 2005, more than
70 percent of applicants submitted standardized test results.
Macalester Moves. It was another record high at the
Macalester C. admissions office in Minnesota this year. Some
4,940 first-year applications arrived for 2007, a four percent
increase over last year. That includes 228 early decision applications,
up from 213 the previous year.
Unlike some colleges, Macalester will continue its ED program.
"Our early decision pool has never been a particularly wealthy
or elite group," Lorne Robinson, dean of admissions and
financial aid, told The Mac Weekly. "We haven't had
the same problem that Harvard has. Early decision suits Mac students
well, and many of the early decision students receive financial
aid." Robinson noted that many East Coast colleges accept
between 40 and 50 percent of their students through early decision,
while Macalester only admits between 15 to 25 percent ED.
Dean Robinson attributed some of the recent increase in interested
students to the ease of electronic applications and increased
recruiting. He noted, "Macalester is a better college than
it was 40 years ago. It has better name-recognition, and there
have been some nice articles in national magazines."
"First and foremost we are looking for good students,
good community members who bring different perspectives,"
Robinson added. "We are always looking for a little bit
of everything to make a well-rounded class."
Johns Hopkins' New Heights. This year Johns Hopkins
U. in Maryland attracted 14,840 applications, up 65 percent over
five years ago. The application folders overflowed 23 five-drawer
file cabinets in the admissions office. Johns Hopkins hopes to
recruit a class of about 1,200 students.
Southern Illinois U. Wants More Women. While many colleges
and universities are trying to attract more men to campus, Southern
Illinois U. in Carbondale is battling with the opposite problem.
About 45 percent of students on campus are female, and the school
created a committee to boost the number of women that come to
campus. The final report's 13 recommendations include greater
recruitment at all-girls high schools; emphasizing areas such
as engineering, automotive technology and aviation as fields
that need women; and bringing more minority women speakers to
campus.
Attracting Minority Students. The U. of California
Riverside has become the campus of choice for many African-American
and Latino students in the U. of California system, according
to a recent report in The Los Angeles Times. Once viewed
as a "dumping ground" for students who couldn't get
into other UC campuses, the Times claimed, Riverside now
attracts more minority students than any other UC campus because
of its vigorous programs aimed at helping them succeed in college.
As one of the most ethnically diverse research universities
in the nation, UC Riverside prides itself on taking chances with
promising students, supporting them with financial aid and working
to make sure they achieve their potential.
This year, 7 percent of the school's 17,000 students are African
Americans, 43 percent are Asian Americans, 25 percent are Latino
or Chicanos and 19 percent are white. That contrasts with the
overall UC system, which is 3 percent African American, 40 percent
Asian American, 14 percent Latino or Chicano and 36 percent white.
While the students quoted by the Times were happy with
Riverside's atmosphere, and many top minority students chose
UC Riverside over the more prestigious UC Berkley and UCLA, not
every one is convinced. The Times quoted one professor
at UCLA's Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies
who charged, "It's the resegregation of the UC system."
Illinois Connects. Meanwhile, the U. of Illinois attracted
21,500 applications this year, down slightly from last year's
record. But the Big 10 school let "fewer top students fall
through the cracks," according to the Chicago Sun-Times,
and its "pool is better than ever," director of admissions
Stacey Kostell, told the paper.
By allowing top students to apply for admission to more than
one program, such as its prestigious school of business, which
admits only 600 students, Illinois kept more of its applicants.
This year, 1,800 students received alternative offers, versus
a few hundred last year.
Illinois also responded to applicants more rapidly. U. of
I. sent out 7,700 acceptance letters by mid-December, and another
5,800 by mid-February.
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Financial Matters
Risky Private Loans. Private loans are growing
faster than any other form of student aid, according to a new
report from the Institute for Higher Education Policy. They provide
$16 billion a year to students who need assistance, a 1,042 percent
increase in the last 10 years. The report, "The Future of
Private Loans: Who Is Borrowing and Why," says that in the
next 10 years private loans could eclipse the federal loan program
(which awarded $60 billion this year).
But the report warns of problems, especially in the targeting
of low-income students who may not have exhausted their federal
loans first. These students need to know their options and need
good counseling before they sign up for loans whose interest
rates can fluctuate in ways federal loans don't and which carry
fewer repayment options.
Low-Income Students Losing Out. When it comes to financial
aid, class greatly impacts financial aid awards, according to
a recent report, "Need-Based and Non-Need-Based Undergraduate
Financial Aid: Factors Impacting Aid Awards," from Eduventures,
a Boston-based consulting company. Even though many colleges
are creating aid programs that support low-income students, more
and more colleges are using non-need-based (usually merit) aid
to attract qualified students.
"Families from the lowest income quartile spend 58 percent
of their income on tuition as compared with only 12 percent for
families in the top income quartile" the report said, "and
students from the top family income quartile receive roughly
three times the non-need-based award as students from the bottom
family income quartile." For info on the report see, www.eduventures.edu.
Debt and Tuition Take Toll. Another report from Eduventures,
"Key Drivers of Educational Value: The Emergence of Educational
ROI," has found that students are assessing whether their
education is worth the money. As debt burdens increase and tuition
rates climb, Eduventures reported that students ranked "professional
preparation," "academic strength," and "affordability"
as "very important."
When it came to professional preparation, which 72 percent
of students marked as very important, students looked for schools
that provide "access to internships, quality of career office
and placement record with employers."
Academic strength, considered very important by 62 percent
of those surveyed, is measured by "close interaction with
faculty" and "experiential learning." Nearly half
of students ranked affordability as very important, with the
number increasing to 74 percent when including those who marked
it "important."
"An Unholy Alliance." Meanwhile, New York
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has launched a nationwide investigation
into "arrangements" between schools and lenders, charging
that, "There is an unholy alliance between banks and institutions
of higher education that may often not be in the students' best
interest." He is charging that in some cases lenders have
provided trips for college financial aid officers in return for
directing students to lenders and that colleges have "preferred
lender" lists or revenue sharing.
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New Programs
Literature Major in California. The U. of California
Merced will offer a new major in literature with two concentrations:
literature and cultures of the English-speaking world; and literature
and cultures of the Spanish-speaking world. The two may overlap
and incorporate history, philosophy and the arts. In the English-language
concentration, for example, students will study with an expert
in ecocriticism and nature writing and take advantage of being
near Yosemite National Park. Also, Merced's management program
will change from a B.A. to a B.S. degree. For more info, see
www.ucmerced.edu.
Islamic Studies. Lake Forest C. in Illinois announced
it has a new Islamic World Studies program. The college currently
offers beginning and intermediate Arabic language instruction
and introductory courses on Islamic culture. The new program
will expand these offerings and increase study abroad and bring
guest speakers to the campus. "The need for a robust program
in Islamic World Studies is as clear as the presence and influence
of Islam around the world," said President Stephen D. Schutt.
Fashion and Retail Management. The Art Institutes International
Minnesota is offering a new Bachelors of Science degree in Fashion
and Retail Management. The program will offer experience in business,
fashion and retail management, with an emphasis on the business
management perspective. Students will be prepared to be managers
in the fashion business. The school notes that according to the
U.S. Department of Labor 2006-2007 Occupational Outlook Handbook,
"clothing, accessory and general merchandise stores, one
of the largest employers in the nation, had about 4.3 million
wage and salary jobs in 2004." For more information visit
www.artinstitutes.edu/minneapolis
and click on "Programs."
Cortland Fine Arts. Next fall, SUNY Cortland will launch
a new bachelor of fine arts major for students seeking a career
as a professional artist or a graduate degree in studio art.
Students will specialize in painting, sculpture, ceramics, print
media, fabrics or new media design. The major will require 75
hours in core skills, studio specialization and art history,
plus a senior thesis. Cortland now has 72 students majoring in
art and art history. Currently 12 other SUNY campuses offer a
similar degree.
Gender and Women's Studies. Armstrong Atlantic State
University in Georgia will begin offering a new gender and women's
studies bachelor's degree in the fall. It will become only one
of three Georgia universities to offer such a major. The program
will draw upon areas as diverse as literature, history, art,
political science, sociology and psychology and requires participation
in a junior/senior seminar that has an emphasis on service learning.
For more, contact Teresa Winterhalter at winterte@mail.armstrong.edu.
Maritime Learning. It's not new, but students who want
a profession in the maritime industry, or just want to become
qualified to spend their summers crewing on yachts should check
out Maine Maritime Academy. Whether it's a baccalaureate or just
a certificate, students can receive training in marine science,
engineering and logistics education, among other fields. Find
out more at www.mainemaritime.edu.
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THE COUNSELOR'S CORNER
A Deeper Look...
THIS MONTH,
The Counselor's Corner looks at two hot topics deserving
greater attention and discussion.
THE LEGACY DEBATE RAGES ON
When The Price of Admissions: How America's Ruling
Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges-and Who Gets Left Outside
the Gates was released last fall by Pulitzer Prize-winning
Wall Street Journal writer Daniel Golden, it immediately
stirred much controversy.
Golden charged that, "money and connections are increasingly
tainting college admissions, undermining both its credibility
and value to American democracy." And he said that preferences
at the nation's most elite institutions "amount to nothing
less than affirmative action for rich white people."
For example, Golden reported elite colleges give special preference
to "development cases," that is, children of wealthy
parents who are admitted even though they posted sub-par test
scores. The quid pro quo expectation is that their parents will
make hefty contributions, often in the millions, to boost the
various colleges' endowments.
Another preference group includes the sons and daughters of
"celebrities," including politicians, with lower than
usual grades and test scores, and sometimes even late applications.
Golden also takes aim at traditional legacies. He noted that
nearly one quarter of incoming classes at the University of Notre
Dame, for example, are legacies. These, too, boost the bottom
line at elite schools.
Another group that usually flies under the radar includes
those who participate in "upper-crust sports" such
as polo, water polo, squash, skiing and sailing. Wealthy families
often help with the financial support of these sports on campus
in return for the admission of their children.
WHO LOSES OUT?
According to Golden, it's "the unhooked,"
middle- and lower-income students who work tirelessly to post
outstanding grades and test scores with the earnest hope (and
illusion, according to Golden) that they will be rewarded by
the top institutions in America's "meritocracy."
Instead, he regretted, they get squeezed out when students
of the rich, famous or politically connected take up spots in
the matriculating class. Golden concluded that, "a large
proportion of slots at these universities are reserved for the
rich."
Golden said that those who are shocked by all of this simply
haven't been paying attention to what has happened as competition
rages on for fewer and fewer really open slots. And students,
and their families, who aspire to the elite schools, need to
understand the real odds. The book is published by Crown (ISBN-10:1400097967,
$25.95).
DO LEGACIES HELP OTHERS?
However, in a recent Chronicle of Higher Education
article, admissions officers from several smaller and less
elite, private colleges explained that they see the situation
differently. At Sewanee U., for instance, the admissions office
found that legacy applicants are more likely than non-legacy
students to accept admission: 44 percent of alumni children enroll,
compared with 30 percent of all applicants.
In addition, some small private colleges explained that, "legacy
students are crucial to their institutions' lifeblood, and that
recruiting them does not compromise efforts to create a diverse
class." Wendy Libbs, president, Stephens C. in Missouri,
noted, "Unlike other universities at 100-percent capacity,
we aren't choosing the legacy over another student, because we
need both."
This debate will likely go on for years. If you'd like to
share your two cents on the topic, drop CB a note at s.sautter@sbcglobal.net.
STUDENT DEBT PROBLEMS
THE STUDENT DEBT
situation is getting worse, said a March 11 investigative report
in The Miami Herald. Most worrisome:
- The cost of attending a four-year public university has soared
by 51 percent over the past 10 years, while tuition and fees
at private universities increased 32 percent.
- Likewise, since the early 1990s, the number of students borrowing
$40,000 or more has increased tenfold to nearly 8 percent of
all student borrowers, according to The Project on Student Debt.
- More than 15 percent of graduates now owe more than $30,000.
Currently the medium amount of student debt is $19,300, according
to the U.S. Department of Education.
The consequences? According to the investment firm, AllianceBernstein,
which in 2006 surveyed 1,508 indebted graduates, students with
debt more than $29,000 tend to postpone milestones of adulthood.
Some 44 percent of students it surveyed said they put off buying
a home; 28 percent delayed having children; 32 percent were forced
to move back with their parents.
"It's almost as if these college grads are living in
a state of perpetual adolescence," AllianceBerstein Vice
President Michael Conrath, told The Miami Herald. He added,
"A lot of parents are thinking about retirement when their
kids graduate, and it could affect their ability to follow through
on their retirement dreams."
Also, 34 percent of these indebted students sold possessions
to make ends meet; 42 percent live "paycheck to paycheck";
27 percent put off medical or dental procedures; 48 percent suffer
from anxiety and sleeplessness; 43 percent put off grad school;
39 percent will take more than a decade to pay off their loans;
and 47 percent blame their families for not having done more
to save for college.
In fact, AllianceBernstein found that of the 1,358 parents
it surveyed who had at least one child under 18 and who earned
$50,000 or less, 58 percent spent more going out for dinner last
year than on college savings. Also, just 23 percent of college
costs is all that most parents' savings will cover. Its survey
of 200 financial aid advisors found that 92 percent said parents
routinely overestimate the amount of scholarship and grant money
their children will receive.
To estimate how much debt students or parents can reasonably
handle, go to www.collegeboard.com/student/pay/loan-center/432.html.
To keep up on student debt issues, legislation and so forth,
or to read the entire Miami Herald article, see http://projectonstudentdebt.org.
And for more federal financial aid options: See www.studentaid.ed.gov.
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P.S. If that's not enough...
Two new books are just out on the subject of student debt:
Generation Debt: How Our Future was Sold Out for Student Loans,
Credit Cards, Bad Jobs, No Benefits and Tax Cuts for Rich Geezers-and
How to Fight Back by Anya Kamenetz (Riverhead Trade, December
2006); ISBN-10: 1594482349, $14; and Strapped: Why America's
20- and 30-Somethings Can't Get Ahead by Tamara Draut (Anchor,
2007); ISBN-10: 1400079977, $13.95.
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NEWS
YOU CAN USE
What Improves Performance? A combination of academic
and financial aid help students succeed, according to a "working
paper" produced by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
The Bureau studied three groups of students: those offered tutoring
and academic support services, those offered large merit scholarships
and those that were offered both. Students given incentives of
academic services and merit aid improved most significantly in
grades, course completion and dropout rates. However, only female
students posted positive results. Academic aid, financial aid
or both had no affect on their male counterparts. The report
is available for $5 at http://www.nber.org/papers/w12790.
States Affect Educational Success.
The educational success of children depends on a variety of factors,
including preschool years, opportunities for continued education
after high school and where they live, concludes the executive
summary of Education Week's annual Quality Counts 2007.
The summary observes that, "States worried about the
skills of their future workforces and stiffer economic competition
from abroad are trying to connect education from birth to adulthood
so that more students are prepared for further study, work and
citizenship."
The study's index is based on 13 factors related to whether
children get a firm educational base early in life, succeed in
elementary and high school and reach educational and economic
benchmarks as adults. For more information see: http://edweek.org/ew/toc/
2007/01/04/index.html.
Wealth Whispers. In case
you missed the results of this year's UCLA annual survey of college
freshmen, here's the headline: Nearly three-quarters of the new
college students have a goal of being "very well-off financially."
That is in contrast to nearly 63 percent in 1980 and 42 percent
in 1966 with the same goal. The new numbers were confirmed by
a separate survey from the Pew Research Center that found 80
percent of 18- to 25-year-olds have a top goal of getting rich.
Materialism is an obsession for these students, no matter their
racial or economic backgrounds.
According to researcher David Walsh of the National Institute
on Media and Family in Minneapolis and author of NO: Why Kids-of
All Ages-Need to Hear It and Ways Parents Can Say It, when
adjusted for inflation, parents are spending 500 percent more
on their children than just one generation ago. That creates
greater expectations, and critics say, greater disappointments
when they face the reality of lower paying jobs leading to what
some call the "quarter-life crisis."
Also, the UCLA study indicates that only half of entering
students enjoy reading. Women enjoy it much more than men. (That
may be one reason nearly half of the entering students will not
graduate, no matter their aspirations.)
Black Student Admission Complicated.
Nearly 27 percent of black freshmen who entered 28 top-ranked
colleges in 1999 were first- or second-generation immigrants
from nations such as Ghana, Nigeria and Jamaica, according to
a February article in the American Journal of Education.
However, this group represented only 13 percent of all U.S.
blacks age 18 or 19 that year. According to the researchers,
that means black students with U.S. ancestry appear to be less
represented in college than race-based statistics indicate. The
article also noted that the immigrant black students were less
likely to have grown up in segregated neighborhoods, had at least
one parent with an advanced degree and higher SAT scores.
Scholarship Scoops. In Prescott,
Arizona, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical U. is offering a number of
new scholarships of up to $10,000 a year to financially and academically
qualified students who enroll in its Applied Meteorology or Aeronautical
Science programs. Funded by the National Science Foundation's
new Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics,
Embry-Riddle is looking for qualified students from Upward Bound/Math
Science Regional Centers and other low-income, high-skilled students.
Call Debra Cates in the office of admissions at 800-888-3728
for more details.... And Sierra Nevada C. in Nevada announced
at the end of March it was awarding six full-tuition scholarships
to American Indian students starting in the fall. Applicants
must be members of Nevada tribes and graduates of Nevada high
schools. Deadline: April 13; email admissions@sierranevada.edu.
People are Talking About.
The February 24 Washington Post report on how "Colleges
Go Online to Calm the Admissions Jitters".... A seven-part
series on NPR and online that explored college admissions, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7506102....
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings released a new
tool to help students and their families plan for college and
simplify the financial aid process called "FAFSA4caster."
It will instantly calculate a student's eligibility for federal
student aid. Available April 1, in Spanish April 29 at www.federalstudentaid.ed.gov....
And FastWeb College Gold: The Step-by-Step Guide to Paying
for College, by Mark Kantrowitz with Doug Hardy, includes
information on finding and winning scholarships, financial aid
myths and what scholarship winners have in common (diligence
among other qualities); available from Collins; ISBN-13: 978-0-06-112958-2;
$21.95.
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COLLEGE BOUND's Publisher/Editor: R. Craig
Sautter, DePaul University; Chief Operating Officer: Sally
Reed; Assistant Editor: Emma Schwartz; Illustration:
Louis Coronel; Board of Advisors: David Breeden,
Edina High School, Minnesota; Claire D. Friedlander, Bedford
(N.Y.) Central School District; Howard Greene and Matthew
Greene, authors, The Greenes' Guides to Educational Planning
Series; Frank C. Leana, Ph.D., educational counselor;
M. Fredric Volkmann, Washington University in St. Louis;
Mary Ann Willis, Bayside Academy (Daphne, Ala.).
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