I thought the same @Ynotgo . I remember Calarts as haivng a good rep even back in the 80s. I think it’s of course a combination of factors, but I like a lot of the explanations from various people on this thread.
I would assume a lot of these colleges need full pay, or at least more pay, students. I was accepted to three on this list, all of which are still offering FA, but didn’t get enough money from them to justify attending. Pretty annoying, really.
As far as schools having room (or not), pretty much any school has at least a little summer melt. Unless a school overenrolled, many will look to add on the margin between now and late August.
I agree with @citymama9 that an isolated location can be a challenge for a school in the admissions season. If a student is looking for an LAC in New England, they can visit several fairly easily. Even if they are interested in Carleton in MN, for example, they could easily take a look at Macalester and/or St. Olaf on the trip. But if Whitman in WA or Lawrence U. in WI or St. Lawrence U. in NY seems appealing on paper/online, they are difficult to visit and not close to other schools. It’s probably more of a big deal in admissions than if a student likes the school, decides to attend, and is enjoying the experience (and all 3 are good schools). Then you just do what you need to do in terms of transportation. It’s just a high initial hurdle that makes it harder for the schools to attract a very large number of well-prepared applicants.
It’s amazing the number of CA students that come all the way across the country to go to LAC’s in NE - why isn’t the PNW seen as a perfect closer option - schools such as Colgate, Colby, and Hamilton are also small LAC’s in the middle of nowhere and are full of students from CA.
I think Sewanee wants to move to “meets full need” and is putting greater resources toward FA than merit aid. They are trying to increase diversity as well and better FA aligns with that objective. The shift may not be without growing pains, however, since many of its direct competitors are more merit aid focused.
Schools like Sewanee and Whitman have historically been rather self selecting with a consistent yield. I wonder if increased exposure and applications have led to more students using these schools as matches or safeties. Maybe Whitman and Sewanee haven’t yet learned to play the yield protection game.
Both schools have decent endowments. I know Sewanee is also in the midst of a $250 million fund raising campaign for programs and capital improvements (they’ve raised over $170 million so far) so I don’t think there’s any reason to be concerned at this point.
On Sewanee – Tuition was raised to about 45 thousand for next year, and average merit aid is now about 13 thousand.
A similar-in-size LAC in the same region, Centre, has a tuition of about 5 thousand less, and average merit aid of about 22 thousand .
I’ve been on both campuses and they are both well-maintained, etc. Hard for me to see why Sewannee is worth, on average, 14 thousand/year more.
My feeling was that Centre was angling for the middle and upper-middle class being cut out elsewhere, whereas Sewannee was counting on more full or near full-pay students. Maybe that strategy isn’t panning out for Sewannee.
@Chembiodad We are a high need family in California. Most of the meet full need schools are back east. That’s why D17 applied to 5 schools in NY/PA/CT and only 2 in CA.
@ams220, great point; it interesting that most of the need-blind/meet 100% of demonstrated need schools seem to be in the NE. Was she happy with her outcome?
She’s very happy to be heading off to Barnard in August. It is certainly the easiest to travel to from here.
Great choice and congratulations!
I feel guilty that three or four of the schools my son turned down are on there. 
Every year there are a few surprises. I remember that Smith was on the list a few years ago. This year, there are several colleges that are not on the list that chose to underfill their class. Because investments are up, those with large endowments can keep admission standards high. Just because a school is on the list doesn’t mean you will get in. Depauw has a 50% acceptance rate.
@barrons , thanks very interesting.
Doesn’t seem to be on the NACAC list.
If anyone is still looking, University of Hartford is still accepting applications. App fee waived; decision within 2 weeks; consideration still being given for merit aid. (as per email from them received today. Not sure why we received it - not a school my kids looked at.)
How on earth are UNCW on this list when we’re set to welcome probably THE largest freshman class in university history?
Similar situation at Montana State University- it’s on the list and has been over enrolling students for the last few years. They are bursting at the seams both in the classroom and in the dorms. There must be reasons schools are on this list beyond managing current year enrollment… is it to attract more applicants in the next admissions cycle? Just a head scratcher to me.
UNCW and Montana State may have openings in specific colleges or majors. They may still need music majors or engineering students. They may also need students from particular areas of their states so leave the application period open, but all applicants don’t have an equal shot at acceptance.
What about Manhattan College, Wittenberg and Ohio Wesleyan?