Colleges Trying to Firm Up Shaky Freshman Enrollment

[kayakmom]

washingtonpost.com



For the first time since 2006, the University of Maryland and Virginia Tech created lists of applicants who might get spots in this year's freshman class if enough admitted students decide at the last minute not to attend.

[John2698]

Here's another article on summer melt.

For me, the most interesting fact was that Dickinson College has already lost 7% of its freshman class to summer melt as of mid-July.

The Chronicle: "In an Uncertain Summer, Colleges Try to Control Enrollment 'Melt'" (About)

[MidwestMom2Kids_]

Trinity, a Catholic university with a high proportion of low-income students, collected deposits from 300 students and expects to lose 10 percent of them by the start of school. Tuition and fees total $19,520.

Not Trinity College in Hartford. Their tuition is double that. But I don't think this fits for Trinity University in San Antonio, either. Maybe the Washington Post meant a semester tuition at Trinity College? Or there are four Trinity Colleges in Australia... I am stumped.

[coase]

@MidwestMom: The article refers to Trinity University in DC.

[MidwestMom2Kids_]

Thanks. It is the Washington Post!

[Modadunn]

I wonder how they get these melt numbers. Are they merely questioned in an email? Is this a number thats reported anywhere or is it just a number they keep track of for good business practies? Whats the probability that there are schools that are not exactly forthcoming? Like maybe those schools who say they aren't concerned at all, really ARE concerned. While I understand the bottom line, when we talk about needed tuition dollars to meet budget, it only forces me to think about seeing students as chattel and cutting student services or activities. And if it's hard enough for the family to write the check in the first place, what does thinking about those things (loss of value) do to contribute to summer melt? If it's all perception, it does seem that connecting kids to each other and to the school goes a long way and a smart one to cement a positive perception. On the other hand, if a school took a larger incoming class and their NOT experiencing the summer melt, how does that affect dorm room quotients, class size and professor load? It's so easy to play devil's advocate to this issue regardless of what side you sit.

[BCEagle91]

I can't imagine what family life would be like if you could get an acceptance off the wait list at this point in time. Presumably you've already paid for the fall semester at a college or are close to paying and then you get a Congratulations! letter. So you have to change all of your plans and make new ones to go to the new first choice. And then you have to cancel with your safety, potentially causing cascading waitlist acceptances and cancellations down the road.

[IMHopeful]

It is hard to imagine, but it also happened to one of my daughter's friends -- very recently was accepted from the Stanford wait list. So everything is changing for her and her family, very fast.

[Cardinal Fang]

My niece was accepted to William and Mary almost exactly four years ago-- in the middle of August. She agonized and agonized, finally deciding her original choice was right, and this spring she graduated from U Va. In retrospect, life would have been happier if she hadn't stayed on the William and Mary waitlist.

[mommusic]

Interesting. But I'm a person who can't understand shelling out $39,000 a year even in a good economy.

At University of Cincinnati, projected enrollment is UP. Already this spring they were catching students who say "A college education is a college education."

[Modadunn]

Well.. while a college education is a very valuable commodity, I would strongly disagree that all college educations are the same, and that a degree from one is interchangeable with another. I also don't think statistics from graduate schools, income post graduation studies and a host of other markers would bear that out either.

[hmom5]

Was totally expecting this at the Whittiers of the college world, but shocked that state schools are worried.

[bclintonk]

^ Many state schools operate on razor-thin margins. Each hundred tuitions at $10K per is a million bucks, and could be much more than that if any significant fraction of those are OOS tuitions, where melt is likely to be most extreme. A lot of people don't realize it, but most publics are far more dependent on tuition revenue than on legislative appropriations. And tuition is something that's usually more in their control. This makes them extremely sensitive to price/demand elasticities.

[Debruns]

"Not Trinity College in Hartford. Their tuition is double that. But I don't think this fits for Trinity University in San Antonio, either. Maybe the Washington Post meant a semester tuition at Trinity College? Or there are four Trinity Colleges in Australia... I am stumped.

There is a Trintiy Univ in Washinton DC that is Catholic
Comprehensive Fee:
Includes full-time tuition, double room, 19-meal plan, student activity fee, enrollment fee, and health insurance fee for one academic year: fall and spring semesters. Lab fees and other fees are additional. $29,009
Full-time Tuition per Semester* $9,680

[bird rock]

Overall, from both articles, it seems as if there is only a little difference from last summer. It will be interesting to read the articles that come out in September.