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Vol. 23 No. 9
May 2009
Admissions Watch
NEARLY 70 PERCENT of
students and parents state that the economic downturn has affected
their college application decision and stress level, according
to a new survey from Princeton Review. The annual "College
Hopes & Worries Survey" polled 15,000 students and parents
and found that nearly 90 percent said financial aid would be
essential to their college selection decision.
In addition, a new U.S. News survey found that more
than 70 percent of prospective college students altered their
college plans, sometimes in drastic ways. Some 53 percent said
they were considering a less expensive school, and 24 percent
who said they were considering a private college are now likely
to attend a public one. Attending a college closer to home was
an option expressed by 38 percent, while 21 percent said they
plan to live at home while attending college. And 47 percent
said they plan to work during their freshman year.
It is not just students and parents who are feeling the impact
of the recession. "The economic and fiscal crisis is having
a profound impact on public higher education," according
to the Association of Governing Board of Universities and Colleges.
In a survey released in April, it said public higher education
in 14 states is "experiencing their own version of a 'Misery
Index.'" These states are Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut,
Florida, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York,
Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia. The survey
also found "uncertainty surrounding changes in undergraduate
tuition charges for the next academic year." Forty percent
of boards in 26 states are increasing tuition an average of 6.65
percent, 49 percent in 26 states are "unsure" what
changes may occur. At the same time, 66 percent of states surveyed
plan to increase institutional sponsored financial aid.
Yet, as Peter Osgood, director of admissions, Harvey Mudd
C., said, "There's all kinds of cross currents. It'll take
us longer to see what really happened this year."
With all this said, CB takes a look at some of the
returns from colleges coast to coast from this tumultuous admission
season.
Amherst. This year, Amherst C. in Massachusetts received
7,667 applications and made offers to 1,215 for its fall class
of 465 students. About 30 percent of the offers went to early
decision students.
Barnard's Class of 2013. Barnard C. in NYC, the nation's
most selective women's college, admitted 1,241 of its 4,174 applicants,
or 29 percent. It expects to seat 570 women in its 2013 class.
Among the admitted were 50 valedictorians. It admitted 212 of
those students through Early Decision. Last year, Bernard admitted
1,207 from a pool of 4,273.
Claremont Colleges "Just as Selective." "Just
when college-bound seniors thought they would finally be cut
a break, the 5Cs have proven themselves just as selective as
past years," according to news out of Pomona C., one of
the 5Cs as the colleges are known. It admitted nearly 16 percent
of applicants for the Class of 2013, out of 6,149 apps. The college
class should be about 390. ED apps "jumped" 20 percent.
Claremont McKenna C. admitted 16 percent of apps, a three percent
drop from last year's admit rate. Those accepted: 52 percent
female, 48 percent male. Out-of-state students account for 62
percent, international students 14 percent.
Pitzer C. admitted but 20 percent of apps, 822 students. In
2004, it accepted 40 percent. It had 2,079 applications. "There
is nothing fair about this process," said Angel Perez, director
of admissions. "You're turning away tons of overqualified
prospects."
Scripps C. announced that financial aid would not be cut.
The college accepted 31 percent of applications, compared to
42 percent for last year. Laura Stratton, acting director of
admissions, said it was, though, "looking for a smaller
class."
Finally, Harvey Mudd C. admitted 31 percent of students, and
experienced more ED apps. "You would think the recession
would draw people to go to public schools," said Peter Osgood,
director of admissions, "but, in this state people hear
about budget cuts and how fewer people are going to be admitted,
so it drives people back towards private schools as a result.
It's not as simple as saying, 'this happened and people went
in that direction.' There's all kinds of cross currents. It'll
take us longer to see what really happened this year."
Duke's Low Acceptance Rate. Duke U. posted its lowest
acceptance rate in history. Only 17 percent of the 4,065 early
decision and regular decision applicants were offered spots in
the Class of 2013. Last year, Duke offered 3,814 students a place
in the Class of 2012, or about 19 percent. Two years ago, the
admit rate was 20 percent. "We'll be denying and wait listing
people that we may have easily admitted a year or two ago,"
Christoph Guttentag, dean of undergraduate admissions, said.
Anticipating uncertainty over who will actually enroll, about
1,000 students have been placed on Duke's wait list. Last year,
200 students were admitted off of the wait list.
Emory's Wheel Turns. This year, Emory U. in Georgia
attracted 15,611 applications, a 10.5 percent decrease from last
year. Its acceptance rate rose 3 percent from nearly 26 last
year to almost 29, dean of admission Jean Jordan told the Emory
Wheel, the student newspaper. "Although we had a smaller
pool of applicants this yearthe number of high-quality, completed
applications was higher than in previous years," Jordan
said, "making our review process as difficult or more so
than in previous years." The average SAT for admitted students
was 1394, the average ACT 31. About 46 percent of the admitted
students are "non-white," including students from 57
foreign nations. About 60 percent of these students have applied
for financial aid.
Florida Gulf Coast. Florida Gulf Coast U. fielded more
than 8,750 applications and admitted 5,309 for 2,050 seats in
the fall freshman class. And it has started a wait list. Last
year, 20 of the 200 students on the wait list were offered admission,
and 12 ended up enrolling.
Geneseo's Record. Geneseo C. State University of New
York (SUNY) set a new record for applications. And it is getting
harder to get in. According to the college newspaper, The
Lamron, the average SAT score is "just shy of 1350."
George Washington Apps Include 100 Nations. International
applications to George Washington U. have soared by 20 percent
over the past two years. Between 1998 and 2001, the number of
international students attending the university in Washington
DC declined sharply, but since then has been rising steadily.
This year, GW received 2,100 international applications from
100 nations. Most often, it's the lure of the nation's capital
that is the major factor in the attraction. Another factor is
the diversity of its student body. Also, GW's admissions staff
traveled to 13 countries last year to speak and conduct interviews.
I.U. Pennsylvania. In these tough times, some talented
students with an eye on the nation's elite schools have realized
they cannot afford their tuition. That's why the Cook Honors
College at Indiana U. of Pennsylvania extended application deadlines
into April and May. "Because the economic forces at play
here are putting these families in a late scramble to find a
suitable college option, I find great pleasure in telling them
about our late application process," says Cook's assistant
director Kevin Berezansky.
Kenyon. This year, Kenyon C. in Ohio attracted 3,985
applicants and admitted 1,528, or 38 percent. Kenyon admitted
307 students of color and 145 legacies. The SAT Critical Reading
average of admitted students was 700. The SAT Math average was
673, Writing 695. The ACT composite average was 30.7. Need-based
financial aid was given to 402 students, while 545 received merit
scholarships.
Economy Behind Numbers in Minnesota. U. of Minnesota
received more than 33,000 applications for fall 2009, but there
are seats for only 5,350 freshmen. That is 4,500 more apps than
last year, a 16 percent increase. On Minnesota Public Radio,
Wayne Sigler, admissions director, said, that the economy is
one of the reasons for the increase. "The cost of the institution
is always a major factor for most of us," Sigler said. "I
think that's especially going to be important this year given
the very difficult situation our state and our country is facing."
Applications are up elsewhere in the Minnesota State Colleges
and Universities System, to 68,700 applications overall, 5,000
more than last year. And according to the Minnesota Private College
Council, apps have decreased among 17 private colleges. But "one
or two percent is not a serious deviation from anything,"
said Dave Laird, the council's executive director.
Northern Kentucky. As of mid-April, NKU had received
more than 6,000 applications, up 38 percent from last year's
all-time high. But state budget cuts of $2.4 million will keep
the school from growing. "I expect that for the first time
in the university's history we'll have to turn away students
who are otherwise qualified for admission," NKU's president,
Jim Votruba, told Cincinnati.com. He noted that the school is
adding $1.6 million in new scholarship funds.
Swarthmore. Swarthmore C. drew applications from 5,574
students, the second most in its history. This is a drop of 10
percent from last year, but 34 percent more than four years ago.
Swarthmore offered admission to 959 students for a class of 390.
About 52 percent of the admitted group are students of color,
with 18 percent Asian Americans, 18 percent Latino/as, 15 percent
African Americans and 1 percent Native Americans. About 42 percent
of the class was admitted ED.
UC Admits Fewer Freshmen. Budget problems made it harder
to get into the nine undergraduate campuses of the U. of California
system. The system turned away about 28 percent of applicants
this year, according to the Los Angeles Times. Santa Cruz,
Davis and Irvine posted the greatest jumps in selectivity.
The percentage of California applicants offered freshman admission
by at least one UC campus dropped from about 75 percent last
year to 73 percent, the paper reported. This year, 80,820 students
applied to at least one UC campus, up 1.4 percent, Susan Wilbur,
the UC system's director of undergraduate admissions, said.
But Wilbur noted that all students who were academically qualified
would find some UC spot. About 10,000 eligible students who had
been rejected by all campuses were later offered admission to
Riverside and Merced.
UC Davis received 42,374 applications and admitted 19,564
or 46 percent, down from 52 percent last year.
UCLA with the most applicants was the toughest to gain entry,
with an admissions rate of 21 percent. The average SAT score
for admitted students was 1992 out of 2400.
Statewide, the percentage of Latinos among the accepted applicants
increased from over 20 percent last year to 22 percent; of African
Americans from 3.8 percent to 4 percent, of Asian Americans from
33.6 percent to 34.9 percent. The percent of admitted white students
in the class fell from 34.4 percent to 33.1 percent. The system-wide
average SAT was 1790, up from 1777 last year.
"Catastrophe du Jour" in Evansville. The
good news in Indiana is that there may be increased support for
financial aid as a result of the federal economic recovery plan,
according to the U. of Evansville Crescent April 17. The
bad news is the economy may still hurt enrollment. "this
is sort of the catastrophe du jour," said Stephen Jennings,
president. Evansville received 2,951 applications, 95 more than
in 2008. About 25 percent of UE's Indiana students are in need
of financial aid.
"Why Didn't I get Into UGA?" That's the title
of a column in the Atlanta Constitution in April by UGA's
associate VP for admissions. More than 18,000 high school students
applied for admission to the freshman class this year for about
5,000 spots. Not surprisingly, "Two factors continue to
give students the best chance to be admitted: taking academically
rigorous courses and doing well in them, and doing well on the
SAT/ACT, including the writing section," Nancy McDuff said.
"GPA in academic coursework is the most important factor
in the admissions process."
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Financial Aid Updates
Opposition to Obama. Last month, CB reported
on President Obama's education budget proposal to end federal
subsidies for private student loans and to tie Pell grants to
the rate of inflation. The Obama plan would replace the Federal
Family Education Loan Program, which guarantees lenders with
repayment up to 97 percent on defaulted loans they make, with
the Direct Student Loan Program. This program directly routes
loans from the federal government to colleges and universities
and is already used by 1,500 schools. The Congressional Budget
Office estimates that the change would save the federal government
close to $94 billion over the next decade, money that President
Obama wants to use for support of more Pell grants.
But a front-page article on April 13 in The New York Times
reported that opposition to the Obama plan is building in Congress
among both Republicans and Democrats. Private lender Sallie Mae
has already hired two influential lobbyists with deep ties to
the administrations of Presidents Obama and Clinton. And members
of Congress with links to lenders that hire employees from their
districts and make campaign contributions have expressed doubts
about expanding federal power in this way.
In a speech April 24 at the White House, President Obama said
he would fight the special interests for "American students
and their families." And in a conference call on the same
day with CB and other education reporters, U.S. Secretary
of Education Arne Duncan said, "Students and families need
to know the money will be there." He noted he is hearing
of students who are in sixth grade and already think they can't
afford to go to college.
However, fearing that the Obama proposal will pass, some large
private lenders are hedging their bets by also putting in bids
for contracts to service the billions in dollars of student loans
that the Dept. of Ed will be unable to manage itself. CB
will keep you posted.
Pennsylvania's Tuition Relief. Some states are taking financial
aid plans into their own hands. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell
has proposed a Tuition Relief Plan that, if passed by the legislature,
will radically reduce the cost of attending a state college or
community college for at least 170,000 students who will pay
"what they can afford." Families with income under
$100,000 could obtain as much as $7,600 in relief for tuition,
fees, room and board. Many families earning less than $32,000
a year will pay just $1,000.
The plan will also help with student debt.
"Three out of four students who graduate from our public
universities begin their professional life with massive debt,
averaging $19,000 per student," Governor Rendell said. "That
debt often hampers new graduates ability to establish their careers,
purchase a home and start a family."
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Some Ivy Bound Tallies
Brown. Brown U. admitted 2,700 or 10.8 percent
of its applicants.
Columbia. The acceptance rate at Columbia U. in New
York City grew slightly this year to 8.92 percent, from 8.71
percent last year.
Dartmouth. Dartmouth C. attracted 18,130 applications
for the Class of 2013, 10 percent more than last year, and admitted
2,184, a 12 percent rate. About 95 percent of the admitted students
were in the top 10 percent of their high school classes, including
more than 42 percent who were class valedictorians and nearly
11 percent who were salutatorians. About 45 percent are students
of color. About 55 percent will receive need-based aid, totaling
$21.8 million. The average scholarship award is likely to be
about $33,978.
Harvard. Harvard C. admitted only 2,046 students, or
7 percent of its 29,112 applicants this year, a record low. Harvard
received 6 percent more applications this year than last. Nearly
11 percent of the admitted students are Latino/as and nearly
another 11 percent are African Americans. About 18 percent are
Asian Americans and a little more than 1 percent are Native Americans.
Students also come from 82 nations. Seventy percent of the new
class will receive need-based financial aid. Last year, 200 students
were offered spots off of the wait list. Dean of admissions William
Fitzsimmons expects this to be another good year for wait-listed
students.
Princeton. Princeton U. received a record 21,964 applications.
It admitted 2,150 or 10 percent.
Yale. Yale C. accepted 1,951 students from approximately
26,000 Early Action and regular admission applicants, or about
7.5 percent, a record low. It received 14 percent more applications
this year. Yale admitted fewer students early, 769, than last
year. Yale expects to admit some students from its wait list.
Last year, 60 students came off the list.
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THE COUNSELOR'S CORNER
New Curriculum Capsules
LOOKING FOR NEW PROGRAMS
and options for your college-bound students? Here is a roundup
of recent postings.
Arizona State. Beginning this fall, Arizona State U.
plans to offer the nation's "first comprehensive undergraduate
degree program in biomedical informatics." Students will
learn skills for integration of computer and information sciences
with basic biological and medical research, clinical practice,
medical imaging and public health disciplines. The American Medical
Informatics Association predicts there will be 10,000 new jobs
in the field by 2010. The degree is also a viable pre-med course.
ASU has already launched a master's degree and Ph.D. in biomedical
informatics. For more information, see http://bmi.asu.edu/undergraduate/index.php
Dalton State. Dalton State C. in Georgia will begin
offering bachelor's degrees in English and history with an "option"
for certification in secondary education.
Lehman. Lehman C. (CCNY) in the Bronx has introduced
a new degree program in exercise science to meet a growing need
for skilled professionals in areas such as physical fitness and
community health education. "Our goal is the promotion of
a healthier nation through exercise and wellness programs,"
said the program's coordinator. This is the third such program
offered by a CCNY college.
Mary Baldwin. Mary Baldwin C., a women's college in
Virginia, will begin two new programs next fall. The new Interdisciplinary
Minor in Civic Engagement in a Global Context will have an emphasis
on "sustainability." Courses will include "Social
Entrepreneurism for the Public Good" and a six-hour "Civic
Engagement Practicum." MBC also will launch a business minor
in management and a "reformatted" business communications
minor.
Rose-Hulman. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in
Indiana is adding bachelor's degrees in biochemistry and international
studies.
St. Mary's. St. Mary's U. in Texas will launch two
new degrees in forensic science. A bachelor of science in forensic
science with a bachelor of science in chemistry option and a
bachelor of arts degree in forensic science with a criminology
option will begin in fall 2009.
Saint Rose. The C. of Saint Rose in Albany, New York,
is offering a new minor in public health. The 22-credit interdisciplinary
minor combines social sciences and health sciences to prepare
students for positions with local, county and state health departments,
community organizations, hospitals and research centers. The
Association of Schools of Public Health predicts more than 250,000
additional workers in the field will be needed by 2020. For more
information, contact Stephanie Bennett at bennetts@strose.edu.
The C. of St. Rose serves 5,000 students in 60 undergraduate
and 43 graduate fields.
Seminole CC. Seminole Community C. in Florida has been
approved to offer its first four-year degree. Starting in January
2010, SCC will offer a bachelor of applied science in interior
design.
"SCC has been the primary source of interior design graduates
to Central Florida for over 30 years through our award-winning
two-year programs," said SCC President E. Ann McGee. "By
offering a four-year degree, we can provide our students and
the Central Florida community with a program that will be locally
accessible and affordable." She added that the school prides
itself on its faculty of "scholar practitioners" with
academic credentials and the industry experience necessary to
teach workforce oriented degrees.
Another popular program at Seminole C.C. is the Professional
Automotive Training Center with its two-year-old, $10 million
facility jointly funded by the Central Florida Auto Dealers Association
and state taxpayers. Tuition totals about $9,500, including $4,000
worth of tools. Industry estimates are that in the outside world
it costs about $72,000 to comparably train a high-tech mechanic
from scratch. The program educates about 140 full-time students.
South Carolina. The Moore School of Business at the
U. of South Carolina, among the nation's best for international
business, has launched two new programs. One is the International
Business and Chinese Enterprise, a collaborative initiative with
the Chinese U. of Hong Kong, Undergraduates spend two years of
study in Hong Kong. "Our goal is to create an innovative
platform for integrating business studies with an intensive language
and cultural experience in Hong Kong and Mainland China,"
said the program manager. The second program is a new master
of international business, a one-year, interdisciplinary program
offered jointly by the Moore School, College of Arts and Sciences
(political science) and the School of Law.
St. Petersburg. St. Petersburg C. in Florida will offer
a new associate of science environmental science technology degree
and bachelor of applied science in sustainability management
beginning fall 2009. Jason Green, SPC's sustainability coordinator,
said that the sustainability management degree focuses on sustainable
business and communication strategies, energy and resource management,
legal issues and sustainability in built and natural environments.
"This unique degree, developed in collaboration with local
industry leaders and universities, is designed to help students
understand broad concepts of systems and strategy involved in
sustainability," said Shri Goyal, dean of the College of
Technology and Management. Other sustainability courses have
been integrated into other curriculum areas.
Three-Year Bachelor's. Hartwick C. in New York has
launched a three-year bachelor's degree that can end up cutting
student costs by 25 percent. Beginning in fall 2009, students
can earn a degree in liberal arts in practice, which combines
traditional liberal arts study and experiential learning. Students
who pursue the degree could end up saving $40,000 in tuition,
fees, room and board. Hartwick C. enrolls 1480 undergraduate
students and sends the second largest percentage of its students
overseas to study. "This initiative responds to the national
discussion about the cost and value of postsecondary education,"
said President Margaret L. Drugovich.
Youngstown State. They used to call it the Rust Belt,
now western Pennsylvania and Ohio are becoming known as the Aging
Belt,. That's why Youngstown State U. has opened its new gerontology
program. Students can earn an interdisciplinary bachelor's of
arts and a certificate in applied gerontology. The Ohio school
says plenty of jobs will be awaiting those with proper training.
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FINANCIAL AID FLASH
$50,000,000 in Scholarships. Yes, that's right.
Eighteen Kansas private colleges have banded together to award
that amount to eligible students. A new web site aims to assist
students learning about the scholarships and information on applying
to the colleges. "We wanted to simplify a lot of the details
in the search for a college and the application process,"
said Doug Penner, President of the Kansas Independent College
Association. "A lot of students and parents aren't aware
that these opportunities are available." See www.Proud2bPrivate.com
.
Military Families Benefit.
ThanksUSA provides 400 scholarships totaling $1.2 million for
the spouses and dependents of active U.S. military personnel.
Applications are being accepted through May 15. See www.ThanksUSA.org.
The organization was started three years ago and has awarded
1,750 scholarships so far.
Purdue Adds New Aid for Middle-Income
Students. On April 10, Purdue U. announced a new Marquis
Scholarship Program for Hoosier students with family incomes
of $40,000 to $100,000. Qualifying students must be in the top
50 percent of admitted students. Recipients receive $2,000 a
year, starting with the 2009-2010 freshman class.
Wayne State's Stimulus.
Wayne State U. in Detroit is offering a one-time doubling of
need-based financial aid to all freshman and other high-achieving
students beginning in fall 2009. The package will also cover
a full year of tuition for any freshman who needs it and to any
upper classman with a 3.0 average or above. The stimulus is made
possible by a reallocation of resources to address the immediate
and pressing needs of its students. The scholarship package will
also enable more than 4,000 students to pay their entire four-year
tuition bill.
Hispanic Travel Scholarships.
Applications for college travel for Hispanic students are being
accepted through June 5 at www.hacu.net/hacu/Lanzate_EN.asp.
The program is sponsored by Southwest Airlines in conjunction
with the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities.
P.S. Calculating the Gap.
For a rare inside look at how financial aid calculations are
made at colleges, take a look at "Dividing Up the Pot,"
in the April 19 New York Times. The article reported on
how Boston U.'s Office of Financial Assistance examines the "expected
family contribution" of each accepted student. Students
with the best profiles receive the best offers. For others, the
gap between tuition and the university's offer is larger.
Last year, The New York Times reported, BU received
post-offer adjustment appeals from 600 families. It changed awards
on half of those, increasing the initial offer from $500 to $2,000.
The university also said that it does respond when a family's
economic circumstances change.
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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: 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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In This Issue
Feature Articles
Admissions Watch
Financial
Aid Updates
Some Ivy
Bound Tallies
THE COUNSELOR'S
CORNER
New
Curriculum Capsules
FINANCIAL AID FLASH
-$50,000,000
in Scholarships
-Military
Familes Benefit
-Purdue
Adds New Aid for Middle-Income Students
-Wayne State's
Stimulus
-Hispanic
Travel Scholarships
-P.S. Calculating
the Gap
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