College Admission 2010: Year of Uncertainty

Many in higher education thought that 2009 would be a tough year for college admission. Administrators worried that students would have to leave their colleges and that freshman classes would not meet expectations. Well, most colleges and universities survived………….this year. And now we are even more worried about next year.

Rising seniors and their families may ask why, but more importantly they are probably ask; how is this going to affect us? The why is easy, the second answer, a little more uncertain. Working against colleges are demographics, the number of high school graduates in the United States is decreasing. That means fewer students to choose from, in some areas of the country 10 – 15% less over in the coming years. The economy has forced families to take a hard look at college costs and what is the return on the investment.... It is becoming more difficult for families to tell their children, “We’ll figure it out” when referring to how they are going to pay for college. The economy has led many families to look into less expensive public schools that are bursting at the seams, requiring those colleges to become more selective. At the same time their budgets are shrinking. Oregon public universities are expected to increase tuition by as m... and the University of California’s Board of Trustees are proposing a 20% hike!

So what does this mean for seniors? We had 250 families on campus last weekend for our open house that were wondering just that. The answer is as unclear as what colleges actually do when reviewing applications. Just as families are uncertain what the economy will bring them in the next 18 months, colleges and universities are equally uncertain. We expect applications to decrease and for students to look to ways to reduce the cost of higher education. Community college enrollments are expected to rise which will eventually increase transfer applications.

Albright’s applications increased 26% this year! We are welcoming the largest first year student class in the College’s history. We also awarded more scholarship and financial aid money than ever before because we realized the climate that we are in. I don’t foresee another 26% increase in applications in 2010, but, I do predict that we will be financially generous to our admitted students to assist them in making Albright a reality.

My advice is not to let cost influence your search decision, but have a discussion as a family as to how cost may influence you college selection decision. It is important that students have financial safety schools on the college list and take the time out to visit those schools to make sure that they are a match for them in case things don’t work out at other places. Who knows, the student may end up liking their safety school the most!

Best of luck with your college search! Please let us know if you can assist.