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Vol. 22 No. 10
June 2008
Colleges Dig Deeper into
Wait Lists
PERHAPS proving
the maxim, "He or she who waits is rewarded," colleges
are pulling more students off their admissions wait lists this
spring than in years past.
The New York Times first reported May 9 that Harvard,
Princeton, Yale and The U. of Pennsylvania, for example, were
among the Ivy League schools digging deep into their wait lists
to fill up their fall freshman classes.
The Times said that Princeton admitted about 90 students
from the 1,000 who elected to stay on its wait list. The U. of
Pennsylvania also admitted about 90 students from its 1,000-plus
wait list. Yale admitted about 45 wait-listed students. This
Ivy League wait-list activity set off a cascading effect at other
schools that then turned to their wait lists. Amherst offered
15 wait-listed students a place in its new class.
"This year has been less predictable than any recent
year," Eric J. Kaplan, interim dean of admissions at Penn,
told the Times. "We all need to fill our classes
and replace students who have been taken off wait lists at other
institutions. The wait list activity could extend for a significant
time."
DOMINO EFFECT
The Philadelphia Inquirer also reported Penn's
use of its wait list May 19, adding Swarthmore C. would include
20 of the 350 students it wait listed this spring. Jim Bock,
admissions dean, attributed the dip into wait lists the result
of a domino effect. "Harvard may take someone from Brown,
Brown may take someone from Swarthmore," he said, suggesting
the dominos may fall all summer.
Meanwhile, according to The Harvard Crimson, Harvard
admitted 200 wait-listed students. Last year, it took only 50
students off its wait list. Harvard only admitted 7.1 percent
of its 27,462 applicants, but its yield this year dropped to
76 percent.
The Wall Street Journal also noted the added uncertainty
at a wide variety of colleges this year in its May 21 article.
It reported that Boston C. will admit about 250 students from
its wait list, up from last year's 117. The U. of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill is admitting 300 students from its wait list.
Hamilton C. has taken 36 students off its wait list.
And Georgetown U., which received 18,700 applications this
year, more than last year's 16,168, has now admitted more than
80 students from its wait list. Its target class size is 1,580
students, according to thehoya.com,
its school paper.
LARGE PUBLIC
UNIVERSITIES FOLLOWING SUIT
The U. of Vermont reported it placed 3,000 students
on its wait list this year, 22 percent more than last year. Officials
at the school explained that they had heard students were applying
to up to seven schools, so it was simply protecting itself in
a time of uncertainty. Only a small portion of the wait-listed
students ultimately will be admitted.
The U. of Wisconsin-Madison is pulling students from an extended
waiting list, according to its news service. Some 375 wait-listed
Wisconsin residents had been admitted as of May 22, from a 950-student
wait list. UW-Madison has not traditionally pulled from a wait
list.
"We're finding increasing uncertainty in the college
admissions process," Rob Seltzer, director of admissions,
said. "The economic downturn, the growing population of
high school seniors, record numbers of applications, students
who apply to and then deposit at multiple institutions-all of
this makes it harder to predict and project how our admissions
cycle will play out."
And Westminster C., which President R. Thomas Williamson describes
as "small by choice" has launched a waiting list "due
to a record number of students wanting to enroll at the 156-year-old
private liberal arts college," according to Vindy.com,
a local paper. Westminster received more than 3,000 applications,
double its previous record, and plans to pull from the waiting
list to create a larger incoming freshman class to accommodate
additional students.
"There is one great myth about going to college today,"
Katherine Harrington, dean of admission and financial aid at
the U. of Southern California, told dailynews.com.
"That is that there are only a handful of good schools.
There are more than 3,000 colleges and universities in the country
and many, many, many of them provide an excellent education.
This notion that someone's life will be ruined if they don't
get into the top 20 or 50 universities in the country is just
not correct" Southern Cal received 36,000 applications this
year for 2,600 available slots.
OTHER ADMISSIONS
STATS
Dickinson C. Dickinson C. in Pennsylvania received
5,300 freshman applications and accepted 2,200. It expects to
field a first-year class of 615 students.
Gettysburg C. Gettysburg C. in Pennsylvania attracted
5,800 applicants and admitted about 2,100 of them. Its first
year fall class is anticipated to number around 705.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. MIT received
a record number of applications, 13,396, an 8 percent increase
over last year, according to the MIT News Office. It admitted
fewer than 12 percent. And its yield was 66 percent. It will
be going to its wait list this year, but thus far, women comprise
46 percent of the fall class, 25 percent are under-represented
minorities and 18 percent are first generation to college. Among
the students admitted were MIT's first set of quadruplets and
another student who owns a company that has built 300 houses
for low-income families in Guatemala using "green cement"
and schools in China for 1.5 million students.
Ohio U. By mid-May, Ohio U. had received 100 fewer
housing contracts from students than last year, according to
The Post. This year, Ohio U. received nearly 14,000 applicants
for 4,050 spots in the class of 2012, 1,000 more applicants than
last year. It admitted 77 percent of them, down from 82 percent
in 2007. If the number of housing contracts doesn't pick up,
director of admissions T. David Garcia said, Ohio will admit
more international students for fall. Ohio U. is working with
Chinese universities to admit more students. Last year, OU gave
an average $4,100 in institutional grants to 50 percent of its
students.
Texas A & M Expects Record Numbers. The largest
freshman class in Texas A&M's 132-year history will include
record numbers of Hispanic and African-American students, according
to the university. Confirmations for Hispanic students have increased
20 percent or by 232 students, compared to last year, and 19
percent, or by 49 African-American students, for a total of 303.
The fall 2008 freshman class is expected to top 8,200 students,
an increase of 100 students.
U. of Oregon Housing Scramble. A projected record freshman
enrollment for fall at the U. of Oregon may lead to a housing
crisis. Oregon received over 5,000 student applications by its
priority deadline. But university housing can only comfortably
accommodate 3,600 of them, and 3,900 if every available space
is used. Nearby private housing is expected to be hard pressed
as well.
Penn State. This year, Pennsylvania State U. received 52,283
freshman applications, and accepted 41,335. It anticipates enrolling
15,000 new students, 7,000 of them at State College.
Shippensburg U. Shippensburg U., also in Pennsylvania,
received 6,621 freshman applications, and accepted 4,635. In
the fall, it will enroll a first year class of 1,700.
SUNY Plattsburgh. The State U. of New York Plattsburgh
closed admissions for the fall in early May. Deposits for incoming
freshmen were up by 17 percent over last year and the school
had surpassed its targeted goal of 975 new students. "Not
only is enrollment strong, but our incoming class is one of the
strongest, from an academic standpoint, that we have seen in
recent history," said the school's president, John Ettling.
State of Washington. The U. of Washington received
a record 20,000 applicants to its Seattle campus and admitted
12,000, while rejecting a record number, according to The
Seattle Times. Applications from overseas students were
up by 40 percent to 2,200. Meanwhile, applications were up 12
percent at Washington State U. and rose by 80 percent among foreign
students. Applications at the U. of Western Washington were up
7 percent. Seattle U. attracted 5,000 applications for the first
time ever, and admitted 65 percent.
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Space Still Available For Fall
AT LEAST 295 colleges
and universities still have space available for qualified students
in their Fall 2008 freshman and/or transfer classes, according
to the results of the National Association for College Admission
Counseling's 21st annual "Space Availability Survey."
The survey of space, institutional financial aid and housing
is as of May 1 and will remain posted throughout the summer.
(Colleges are to update their listings as the number of openings
at their institutions changes.) Of those institutions that have
space available, 99 percent also have institutional financial
aid availability, and 95 percent have housing space. Survey results
are available today and may be viewed at http://www.nacacnet.org/sas.
"It is important for students and their counselors to
know that postsecondary options are still available for the Fall
semester." said NACAC President Kimberly Johnston. For more
info also see NACAC's Fact Sheet.
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THE COUNSELOR'S
CORNER
AS THE SCHOOL YEAR
draws to a close, states are grappling with their own challenges
in admitting students to college and providing financial aid.
Here's a roundup of news this spring.
Budget Shortfalls. First, the bad news. According to
estimates from the National Conference of State Legislatures,
the current economy has pushed budgets in 16 states into a cumulative
$12 billion deficit. Next year, it gets worse, with 23
states projecting a $26 billion shortfall. The NCSL reports Alabama
is planning to cut college and university budgets by at least
11 percent. Other states have scaled back cuts for the moment.
In Kentucky, the initial 12 percent education cuts were limited
to 3 percent in the end. In New Jersey, where the state faces
a $3 billion deficit, higher education will be scaled back by
3.5 percent.
California Squeeze. State budgets in 2007-08 had actually
given higher education a 7 percent increase for the fourth year
in a row, appropriating $77.5 billion for public higher education,
according to the Center for the Study of Education Policy at
Illinois State U. Yet, with a possible recession looming and
state budgets under stress, public colleges and universities
are facing cuts next year. In California, a $20 billion budget
deficit has already led to a 10 percent cut in higher education
institutions, according to NCSL.
For example, the budget proposal of California Governor Schwarzenegger
cuts both the U. of California and California State U. by 10
percent. That would translate into possible reductions of the
number of students who those systems can enroll in the fall.
On top of that, the Governor's proposal assumes a 7 percent tuition
increase at U. of California schools and a 10 percent increase
for colleges in the California State U. system. Schwarzenegger
also wants to suspend Proposition 98, which guaranteed minimum
state support for the state's community colleges and public schools.
Raising Graduation Rates. According to Jobs for the
Future, a non-profit organization based in Boston, "States
have made steady progress in recent years in setting academic
standards, in increasing the percentage of young people reaching
at least the minimum benchmarks set, and in decreasing the achievement
gap between different demographic groupings of students."
But in a White Paper released this winter, the organization
called on state policymakers to commit to ensuring five outcomes
in schools: a high school diploma that signifies college and
work-readiness; pathways to graduation and college success for
struggling and out-of-school students; turnaround of low-performing
high schools; increased emphasis on graduation rates and college-readiness;
and early and continuous support for struggling students.
The paper "Raising Graduation Rates in an Era of High
Standards," notes that Oregon has established "alternative
learning options" for students, North Carolina is creating
a system of small high schools and Georgia is investing $15.4
million so that each high school has "full-time graduation
specialists" to identify dropouts and make plans to help
them finish school. For more info see www.jff.org.
State Report Cards. There is disparity among the way
graduation rates are reported between the states, the federal
government and independent researchers, according to the Alliance
for Excellent Education which has released its fourth annual
State Cards listing the vital statistics of high schools in each
state. For a copy see www.all4ed.org/about_the_crisis/schools/state_cards.
The First State Ranks Last. Unfortunately, a new report
from the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education predicts
that for every 50 ninth-grade students in Alaska, only three
will graduate from college in the next 10 years. In fact, Alaska
ranks 50th among the states in the percentage of adults who hold
college degrees. Alaska also has the second highest unemployment
rate in the nation for high school dropouts, 17.3 percent.
More Spent on Prisons Than Higher Ed. Connecticut,
Delaware, Michigan, Oregon and Vermont spend more on prisons
than they do on their colleges, according to the Pew Center on
the States.
From 1987 to 2007, spending on corrections across the nation
increased by 127 percent, six times the 21 percent increase in
spending for higher education.
On a Bright Note. Colorado is directing revenue from
new oil and natural gas taxes to bolster scholarships for state
colleges. In Virginia, higher education will get a boost of 2
percent. Ohio has taken none of its $733 million in cuts from
state colleges. And in Indiana, Governor Mitch Daniels wants
to give families earning $54,000 or less $6,000 per student for
two years of higher education tuition. Daniels wants to privatize
the state lottery to pay for his plan. (However, lawmakers have
previously rejected that option as the source of the revenue.)
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THE COUNSELOR'S
BOOKSHELF
Succeeding as an International Student in the United
States and Canada by Charles Lipson (U. of Chicago Press,
Spring 2008); 380 pages; ISBN: 978-0-226-48479-2; $17; see www.press.uchicago.edu.
Getting the Best Out of College: A Professor, a Dean and
a Student Tell You How to Maximize Your Experience by Peter
Feaver, Sue Wasiolek and Ann Crossman (Ten Speed Press, May 2008);
ISBN: 978-1-58008-856-5; $14.95.
How to Survive Your Freshman Year, now in its third
edition, (Hundreds of Heads, 2008); ISBN-10: 1-933512-14-8; $15.95.
The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run
Into College, also updated, by Harlan Cohen (Sourcebooks,
Inc., 2007); ISBN-13: 978-1-4022-0909-3; $14.95.
Prepared Parent's Operational Manual by Marie Pinak
Carr and her daughters: Katharine, Ann and Elizabeth Carr, included
checklists for getting started and continuing all the way to
going to college; 212 pages; (Dicmar Publishing, 2008); ISBN:
978-0933165106; $13.95; www.preparedparent.com.
Minding the Gap: Why Integrating High School With College
Makes Sense and How to Do It by Nancy Hoffman, Joel Vargas,
Andrea Venezia and Marc S. Miller (Harvard Education Press, 2007);
$29.95.
And People Are Talking About "America's Secret
Educational Weapon: Community Colleges" in the May Phi
Delta Kappan. Fundamentals of College Admission Counseling,
second edition, with three new chapters and a CD (Kendall/Hunt
Publishing Company and NACAC, 2008), see http://www.nacacnet.org/Fundamentals.
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ADMISSIONS
WATCH
Common Application More
Common. More students used the Common Application this year
than last. According to the Common Application, Inc. in Virginia,
about 367,994 "unique applicants" filed 1,281,196 applications,
a 40 percent increase over last year. Each applicant filed slightly
fewer than four applications, the same ratio as last year.
Admission
Worries. The number one worry of admissions deans, in a survey
conducted by The Chronicle of Higher Education and published
May 2, is "affordability." Another worry: that their
own schools cannot keep up with the new added aid offered to
students by colleges and universities with large endowments.
These deans also feel the pressures of "managing high expectations
and limited resources." They are concerned about the projected
decline in traditional applicants and struggling with public
misconceptions about admissions. Others expressed concern about
"maintaining ethical standards" during a time of fierce
competition for students.
Measuring "change" in the admissions process over
the past decade on a scale of 1 to 5, with five being "increased
greatly," admissions deans said: parental involvement rated
a 4.4; stealth applications that come from students with no prior
contact, 4.2; student stress about the application process, 3.9;
the proportion of economically lower-class students attending
college, 3.3; the portion of middle-class students attending
college, 3.2.
International
Apps to Grad School. Applications by foreign nationals to
U.S. graduate school rose 3 percent this year after increasing
by 12 percent in 2006 and 9 percent in 2007. But since 2003,
such applications are still down 16 percent. China led the way
this year, according the the Council of Graduate Schools, with
an increase in graduate applications of 12 percent, after a 19
percent increase last year.
Still, according to a recent article in the Los Angeles
Times, students from India have become the largest group
of international students in the U.S., numbering more than 83,000
last year, double over the last decade.
Changes
Afoot. In announcing its stats for the spring, NYU noted
that it is changing next year's regular decision deadline from
January 1 to January 15, 2009, and no longer publishing a paper
application for admissions. Students are to apply online or use
the Common Application. Amherst C. is extending need-blind admissions
to international students. The change will take effect for the
2008-09 school year. Baldwin-Wallace C. is making ACT/SAT test
scores optional beginning the 2009-10 academic year. It will
test the change over the next five years. And Wake Forest U.
became the first and "only top 30 national university"
to adopt a test-optional policy.
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THE FEDERAL
DOLLAR
Reauthorization Update.
The eighth Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965
should be completed early summer. The House and Senate agreed
on several features of the bill including a new watch list to
track increases in college tuition and annual lists of the most
and least expensive colleges. CB will keep you posted.
Loan
Crisis Update. President Bush signed a bill to stabilize
the private loan market late last month. And federal loans are
now thought to be adequate to meet the fall need of students.
But 50 private companies have stopped issuing student loans through
the Federal Family Education Loan program. Students who were
covered by those companies are scrambling to find other lenders.
As a result of the turmoil, 288 colleges have joined the federal
direct lending program in recent months, which now means 1,158
colleges are participating.
Still, 4,654 colleges use the private guaranteed loan program,
and 421 participate in both the private and federal loan programs.
The receding availability of private loans is expected to hit
community colleges the hardest because CC students take out smaller
loans and are less aggressively served by lenders.
Aid
Lacking at CCs. Over one million community college students
are excluded from federal financial aid because their schools
don't participate in the program, according to a new study from
the Project on Student Debt which found that one in 10 community
college students, including one in five black students, attend
these non-participating community colleges. The report, "Denied:
Community College Students Lack Access to Affordable Loans,"
concluded that the students quickly turn to risky and more expensive
private loans or dropout.
The study also found gaps between the services provided to
majority white institutions and those attended by black students.
Also, in Georgia, 60 percent of community colleges did not participate
in the federal loan program; in Alabama the number was 51 percent;
in North Carolina, 47 percent; in Louisiana, 47 percent; in Montana,
27 percent; in Virginia, 24 percent; in Tennessee, 22 percent
and in Utah, 20 percent did not participate.
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NEWS YOU
CAN USE
All About Sports. Athletics
cost U. S. colleges and universities how much? For the first
time, the National Collegiate Athletic Association has released
figures that give us some idea. Only 5 percent of the more than
300 Division I athletic programs earned a profit between 2004
and 2006.
Coaches salaries are the most expensive item. The median Division
I football coach's salary grew by 47 percent between 2004 and
2006 to $855,500. Ticket sales and private donations make up
more than half of all revenues. Much of the rest is institutional
support, which could include scholastic or need-based scholarships.
Closing
the Racial Gap. The six-year graduation rate gap between
white and black students is about 20 percent, according to the
Washington-based Education Sector. But many colleges have effectively
eliminated that gap, and other institutions should follow suit.
"Successful colleges pay attention to graduation rates.
They monitor year-to-year change, study the impact of different
interventions on student outcomes, break down the numbers among
different student populations and continuously ask themselves
how they could improve," says the report, "Graduation
Rate Watch: Making Minority Student Success a Priority."
Both Florida State U. and the U. of Alabama graduate black students
at a higher rate than white students.
Grad
Jobs. 2008 college graduates will find that hiring is up
8 percent this year over last year, according to the National
Association of Colleges and Employers. The anticipated cuts in
college graduate hiring is expected to hit next year. And colleges
are working harder to train their students how to find jobs and
to match their grads with potential jobs.
Teach
for America. Teach for America, the non-profit organization
that places college graduates in challenging public schools for
two years, will place 3,700 new teachers in schools this September,
a 28 percent increase. It fielded 24,700 applications, a 37 percent
increase over the 18,000 applicants for 2007. It was the number
one hiring employer at Duke U., Emory U. George Washington U.,
Georgetown U., New York U. and Spelman C.
UTeach.
Meanwhile, more universities are joining the UTeach program started
at the U. of Texas. UTeach is designed to entice more math and
science majors into education. The program not only recruits
them, but helps them with shortcuts to certification. Now the
U. California at Berkeley, the U. of Colorado at Boulder, the
U. of Kansas, Louisiana State U., the U. of Florida and Temple
U. have joined the network, which is funded in part by the Dell,
Gates and ExxonMobil foundations.
Still
Worth It? Beyond all the benefits of an expanded understanding
of oneself and the world, is a college degree worth the money?
Absolutely. According to recent U.S. Census data, the median
income for a college graduate is $51,000; for a student with
only a high school diploma it is $31,000. Even with the average
debt from student loans reaching $20,000, the "wage premium"
for college grads pays off. According to the College Board, over
a lifetime, a college grad can expect to make $280,000 more than
the high school graduate.
And according to The Kiplinger Letter, May 2, "well-paid
jobs for high school grads are fading." Three decades ago,
only 41 percent of jobs required advanced courses. Today, 60
percent of jobs need more than just a high school education.
By 2020, that number will rise to 70 percent. The employment
growth will be in such fields as health care, education, engineering
and accounting.
Teens
Happy. Over 80 percent of American teenagers age 13-17 say
they are at least somewhat happy, according to a recent poll
by OTXresearch & the Intelligence Group. Some 85 percent
are happy with their relationship with friends, 80 percent are
happy with their talents and abilities, 78 percent are happy
with how they look, 67 percent are happy with the town or city
where they live, 66 percent are happy with their relationships
with their boy or girlfriend, and 58 percent are happy with their
body.
And 90 percent said they would rather get a college degree
than "win American Idol." Some 55 percent said they
would rather be the smartest kid rather than be the best-looking
kid in school. And 76 percent would rather have a lot of friends
than the 24 percent who wanted a lot of money.
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End Note: And, finally, as CB ends its 22nd
year of publication, we thank all those who have continued to
subscribe. Many of you have been with us since the beginning.
We look forward to serving you in the future. See www.collegeboundnews.com
for updates and subscription info.
Have a great summer!
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: Lisa Burnham,
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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