RIT announced in their website that regular decision deadline is being extended to June 1 and that open house admission will be rescheduled in May.
My son was an aid applicant before and will still need the same amount after. We are fortunate that both his Step-Father and I have secure jobs, as well as his father, but I have been worried about the fact that we applied for financial aid at all, and how that might affect him more this year than it would have a year ago. That said, I can’t help but think there are likely applicants who were full pay a month ago, but sadly no longer are, and could be in a worse position financially than we are, since our finances are stable. Yes, like everyone else our 403b and investments dropped significantly, but it was never our plan to use this money to fund our child’s education.
Our biggest stress and struggle is helping him decide where to go with so much uncertainty. We are concerned as to whether he is more likely to be waitlisted or rejected than a full pay student, and curious how the colleges would even know who is still in a position to pay the full amount right now anyway?
I think many schools are dealing with the same unknowns we are all dealing with. Everyone’s finances have been turned upside down. Just three weeks ago, we were all faced with certain choices, now those choices might not even options. We honestly do not even know how long these circumstances will last. Perhaps, we might have to start the Fall semester online and away from our chosen school. Everyone is expected to decide by May 1st. But without admitted tours and with all the unknowns, I think people will navigate towards the most affordable even if its the safety school.
Those students currently coming off waitlists/deferred lists might not be able to afford them unless these are truly affordable schools. Perhaps desperation moves by many schools trying to put together a class. As it is, we are 6 weeks away from May 1st and nobody knows what is going to happen. Schools do not know and my son does not know. It’s like the clock just stopped and we are stuck here and we do not what to do.
Will COVID-19 really increase acceptance rates for international students? Since colleges will ideally expect a lower yield, it makes sense that they would admit more students.
529s for kids close to being in college or for those in college should be in the safest investment options. Our 529s only went down 5 percent.
Agree. Ours was in an age-based program, that automatically shifted the money out of stocks over time, as the student gets closer to college age. So, at this point, D19 & D20’s 529’s are not exposed to stocks at all. They barely flinched.
People have talked about yield going down. But isn’t it likely to go up for state schools?
Could they end up rescinding more kids for a drop in grades?
I think twodogsnight is correct, state flagships will see increase enrollment , w more in state kids and a lower yield of international kids, who pay big bucks which will effect aid for this years Jr’s. Not sure about being tougher on kids who have a drop in grades, the other side of the coin is teachers may grade easier for their last HS semester.
We are having discussions in my house about a very pricey private school in upstate NY that the price tag is 76k a year, my son got some aid that brings the cost down to about 50k but I do not know if that aid will be there all 4 years, state flagship is 30k with no aid so I know my fixed cost for the next 4 years.
In an economic downturn, expect colleges to raise tuition. All colleges will see greater financial need among students. The current situation will also make it more difficult for international students, reducing full-pay revenue from them. In addition, state governments facing tax revenue drops will cut funding to state universities.
@ucbalumnus Yes, I have read the same regarding state schools facing cuts due to decreased revenue. Example is the state of FL which rakes in a lot of taxes from the parks in Orlando. With those being closed down (along with beaches, cancelled spring break trips, etc) that is a lot of revenue for FL that is lost. My D is looking at one state school in FL and I wonder how much that will affect their budgets. If you look at a case study of UCF from a few years back, they solved lower state funding by increasing the amount of online classes and it proved successful. But do I want to pay for my daughter to sit in her dorm room and take online classes?
Then you look at private schools. Their operating funds are being significantly affected by room and board this semester (if credits are given). I read about a school in KY that has declined to give refunds for room/board for the remaining portion of the semester even though students were sent home. They said they were not in a financial position to give refunds. I know a few other schools have upcoming Board of Director meetings to determine if they are giving refunds. Going into next year, will some of the private schools be in a financial position to continue operating as normal? Many of the private schools have given large scholarships to discount the tuition. I have to wonder if they can continue to offer these scholarships? Could they take these scholarships down in the future or even change what they have currently offered? I think I remember reading on several of the scholarship offers that “funds are subject to change”.
Are the scholarships that our students received going to stay the same? Maybe I’m overthinking this but that part concerns me if budgets get very tight in some of the private schools. They have to makeup that revenue somewhere.
Years from now, we will be discussing this topic in terms of pre-Covidian and post-Covidian eras. “Wait, did you get into Yale pre- or post-Covidian?”
I totally agree with premises in posts 48 and 49. Full pay students in next year’s cycle are going to enjoy even more significant advantages over students needing aid at all levels of schools except perhaps for a very few at the tippy-top. Even many Ivy and similar schools, for instance, will tacitly become more need aware.
It is likely that a long economic downturn is at hand. Even without the trigger of the corona pandemic and panic, the economy has been long overdue for a recession. Public - and likely even private - resources available to education at every level are going to be significantly reduced. My hope is that we collectively use this period to rationalize an extremely inefficient system.
At my D17’s school they stated they will be accepting more transfer students this year and waiting listing more kids , knowing the international downturn.
And this sums up what is wrong with much of higher education–many private colleges seem to think they are immune from general economic principles re supply and demand. This is really only true of the very elite colleges (IvyPlus and LACs like Willams, Amherst) that can be considered “Veblen goods”. Get outside of the top 40, and this really isn’t true anymore.
Now, I admit that the value plays like state flagships may be able to raise tuition somewhat, because they are still far cheaper than any private colleges. But most private colleges should be very afraid.
I am a Hong Kong student. The COVID-19 led to the suspension of schools and the postpone of the 12th-grade mock exam, also the day of getting the 12th-grade transcript which needs to be sent to CSUF.
Or they will remain need-blind, but adjust their admission criteria to increase favorability of characteristics associated with higher SES / lower FA need, such as legacy, expensive extracurriculars, etc. to tip the admission class toward higher SES / lower FA need without the admissions office having to look at individual applicants’ FA information or FA results.
I did some googling on this issue and I found out that after experiencing a recession more people will apply to higher ed. 2 year schools like community colleges will see a spike in enrollment, while 4 year schools showing the same consistency in their enrollment numbers. I am a student who requires financial aid. I definitely think corona-virus caused recession will affect my enrollment chances. Doesn’t matter how qualified I am, if I can’t help pay their bills then I will be less likely to get in.
Notwithstanding several pending RD applications, and despite having also been offered full tuition merit at Vandy, which is a 3hr drive for us, son’s top choice is MIT. It is a fly in school that will cost us about $50K/yr after need aid (which is fairly generous; Caltech asked us for significantly more), so about 120K difference over 4 years if our financial situation remains the same.
We’re asking ourselves all the same questions and have the same reservations and anxieties everyone else is, but MIT is a great fit and an academic match for him. Vandy, not so much (their CS program is not in the same league).
We anticipate at least the first semester will be online. What could be even worse are repeat outbreaks.
Still, we have to make it happen no matter what.
But if the top-ranked option was Vandy, without the merit he would probably take full tuition scholarship at our state flagship instead (which is in the 2nd 100 USNWR) even before the latest craziness.
Most merit aid scholarships I have seen for both of my kids were for 4 years, so I feel pretty safe there but grants are a year to year thing ( as I have seen w my kids) so I would be more concerned with those. Right now we have 2 schools with some grants and while they have endowments north of 900 million I am still wondering if they will reduce them. I really think this years freshmen class is pretty ok with scholarships it is next few years classes that will feel the brunt of this , just in time for my last one to go to college 
Maybe colleges will stop the arms race of building the fanciest new football stadium or dorms with a atrium in it.
The chance that most colleges will be online in Fall 2020 is very small. K-12 for sure will be brick and mortar, so it will be difficult for college not to be. Neither the public nor the economy would tolerate the current level of disruption for more than a few months, likely not more than 6 weeks or so. Not for a virus that has a lethality rate of less than 1%, concentrated on groups that are very far removed in age and circumstance from students.
It will ultimately be accepted that vulnerable people will need to self isolate, and most other people will come to understand the virus as a nasty risk that must be borne. In the meantime, some strides will be made in developing at least some effective treatments. Life will go on. That is my bet. Let’s check back in a few months!