<p>I just looked at the stats for a liberal arts college with a yield of about 12%-- Willamette. The financial aid stats are telling. 98% of students applied for need based financial aid; 65% were found to have need; and of those 65%, full need was met for only 39%. I believe that includes loans. Average percent of need met was 87% (based on school’s definition of need). So lots of gapping going on here.</p>
<p>Compare this to a school like Pitzer. Less than half of admitted students apply for aid, suggesting non-need-blind admissions. Of those who are found to have need, 100% of need is met. </p>
<p>Pitzer has a lower admit rate and a much higher yield. </p>
<p>This could obviously and easily explain the differences in yield rates between the two schools, and the lower yield rate at Willamette wouldn’t suggest that the school was a safety for those who decided to matriculate or that morale is likely be be low. in this instance, I’d be less concerned abt yield numbers if I could afford the school based on the aid awarded. I haven’t studied the numbers closely enough to really see if the numbers hold up but this is the sort of analysis that I would be doing in trying to figure out whether a difference in yield was likely to indicate anything significant about the relative quality of life at schools that I was comparing.</p>