neatoburrito

"Enrollment and the Economy"

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Periwinkle

Today's New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/08/ed...pagewanted=all.

Interesting reading. Some speculation about financial aid. Tufts may not be able to be need-blind in admissions this year. Some colleges are increasing their financial aid pool, but may be using it differently, and many will likely become more need-sensitive this year.

I would assume that the colleges' concerns are matched in the prep school world.

BrooklynGuy

From the Andover website:

So, maybe applications will be increased this year......will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Periwinkle

Just Past the Ivied Halls, Endowments Suffer (NYT.com)

I don't think many prep schools have endowments large enough to dabble in private equity or hedge funds.

Applications may be up. We've attended some open houses, and turnout has been very good. I think that will make estimating yield an interesting question this year. Will the schools accept more students than last year, assuming that a certain number will not accept the offer, due to finances? Or will they play it safe, and turn to the waitlist, as spots open up?

BrooklynGuy

From today's New York Times. Refers to college endowments and giving, but may have relevance to boarding schools.

And I have to post quickly, before someone beats me to it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/bu...1&ref=business

westcoast_

hopefully things will resolve to some extent in four years

i'm concerned on how my parents are going to pay for all of this o_O korean won to us dollar exchange rate is horrible.

being an int'l student I doubt I can get a ton of fa in university (we've given up the prospect in boarding schools who could easily accept the next Korean genius with so much more potential than me but willing to pay for their 4 years at potential-utilizing)

Periwinkle

Tee hee...

Here's another article from today's New York Times. It's also worth reading.

Private Schools Say They’re Thriving in Downturn

The schools cited are day schools, but the issues they cite are relevant to this thread. Many school leaders are able to cite concrete examples of their plans to trim their budget. In this parent's opinion, none of the plans mentioned would effect the quality of a student's education.

BrooklynGuy

Thanks, Periwinkle. I am outside the NYC area for the holiday and did not see that article on private schools, as it wasn't in the National edition of the paper that I read today.

Periwinkle

I love RSS. It allows me to keep track of breaking news and articles.

pan1956

I am befuddled. On the one hand, the press is replete with articles about shrinking endowments, declining giving and cutbacks at elite institutions; on the other hand, all the elites (including the elite prep schools) insist that they are still committed to need-blind admissions. So which is it? In this uncertain environment, with the won trading at 1460 to the dollar, can the A's and the E's of the world afford to continue to be need-blind and to aid up to half their enrollments?

Also, if they are truly need-blind, then why do they ask on the first page of the application whether a candidate will be applying for aid?

Is this a good year for full pays?

I am new to this discussion. I wish to hear from those of you who have lots of experience in this area.

newyorker22

Pan,

That's a good point about them asking about FA on the application. I personally do not think they are truly need blind. 70% of the school has to pay full tuition. They have to be conscious of that ratio, or conscious of finding enough full pay students. To say that they can just accept whomever they want, even if it is 100% financial aid kids just doesn't make sense from a budget point of view.

GemmaV

pan1956: Most Part Ones of applications are not necessarily instrumental for the admission officers to read and consider and evaluate, but rather for the secretarial staff to use for data entry purposes. Obviously schools will need to collect statistics about their applicant pool for their records: how many people are applying for grade 9, 10, 11, 12 and PG, how many boys and girls, what is the racial/ethnic background, how many kids applying who are international students, how many kids applying from each state, how many applying from public school/private school/home school, AND how many are applying for financial aid.

newyorker22: According to the Andover website, 42% of the student body receives financial aid, leaving 58% to have to pay full tuition. I am sure Exeter's ratio of financial aid to full pay students is similar, if not even better.

keylyme

42% receive financial aid...but not 100% aid.

pan1956

An institution that is truly NEED-BLIND in deliberating admissions runs the risk, albeit theoretical, that, once the admissions decisions are made, all those offered admission require aid. So maybe I am a skeptic, but it stretches credulity to believe that any institution is truly NEED-BLIND.

And it makes intuitive sense that this must be especially so as endowments and giving drop through the floor.

Even Groton and I believe Choate indicate on their websites that the need for aid affects the likelihood of admission.

There must be some mechanism that ensures that they get the critical mass of 50-60% full pays.

Comments????

Balto55

First, many boarding schools (and Universities) have made the strategic decision to keep spending money on financial aid, at the expense of capital projects - new buildings, etc. So instead of taking endowment funds for new construction, they are allocating those funds to maintain economic diversity. Bravo

These schools also have a long history of knowing the broad demographic composition of their applicant pool, so they do have some insight into how many applicants will need what kind of financial aid. Having said all that, I think very, very few prep schools are TRULY need blind through the application process - maybe two - and if we have more days like today, even those numbers might decline.