Nearly 90 percent of colleges and universities saw an increase in applications for financial aid during the last admissions cycle, according to the results of a new survey released Thursday by the National Association for College Admission Counseling. The number of students applying for aid has been steadily rising for years, but many colleges had expected to see needier applicants this past year as the economy took its toll.
A majority of colleges gave aid to more students, and increased the amount of both grants and “self-help aid,” such as loans and work-study, said the report on the survey, “Effects of the Economy on the Admission Process, 2008-09.”
Admissions officials who gathered here on the first day of the association’s annual conference described how a season of economic uncertainty had affected their strategies for meeting this fall’s enrollment goals. The survey confirmed that colleges had used a variety of strategies to meet their enrollment goals for this fall. The most prevalent tactic was to accept a greater number of applicants, which 67 percent of institutions said they had planned to do.
The association, known as NACAC, first surveyed its member institutions in May, then again in August or September. A total of 288 colleges responded.
As for admissions outcomes, nearly half of the institutions reported increases in their freshman enrollment. Public universities were somewhat more likely than private colleges to have seen such an increase. Fifty-four percent of institutions saw increases in transfer enrollment, and those upticks were also much more pronounced at public colleges.
Some findings revealed the difficulty of making nationwide generalizations. For instance, 44 percent of colleges reported decreases in their yield rates (the percentage of admitted students who send deposits), yet 34 percent saw increases and 23 percent saw no change from the previous year. Twenty-five percent had decreases in yield for early-decision applicants, and 29 percent saw decreases in early-action yield rates.
And while 28 percent of colleges reported increases in “summer melt” (the number of admitted students who do not enroll), the exact same percentage reported decreases, while 43 percent saw no change.
The survey also captured budgetary and staffing challenges. Fifty percent of admissions offices at public institutions reported budget decreases for the 2009-10 academic year, compared with 37 percent of those at private institutions. Twenty-nine percent of public institutions saw decreases in admissions staff, compared with 15 percent of private colleges.
