"Tight ecomony has officials shifting admissions strategy"

Parents Forum
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<p>Article in today’s Baltimore Sun talks about how small independent colleges (Goucher, Loyola, Washington, McDaniel) in MD are having problems filling the 2008 -2009 freshman class. I would imagine that other small privates may be in the same situation. Cost of attendance seems to be the main reason as parents and students question whether $45K for a private is worth it in today’s changing economy. The article also says that the tougher standards to qualify for student loans are affecting decisions. </p>

<p>The admission directors interviewed say that many are having to go very deep into their waitlists, reconfiguring fin aid with students who dual enrolled and are bargaining for the best deal, and overadmitting and hoping they hit their numbers. VP of enrollment management for Loyola College said that this is the most waitlist activity he has seen in 20 years. Goucher took 70 off the waitlist hoping 60 will enroll. Some of those interviewed say that the “summer melt” is not over and some schools may not hit their target numbers. </p>

<p>The community college spokesman states that their enrollment numbers for 2nd summer session are up 20% and that they expect their fall numbers to be higher than last year. They believe family income is the main factor.</p>

<p>I realize that these are not the usual CC schools but they are very good colleges for many many applicants.</p>

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<p>Combining two topics: Radius and Small Schools. </p>

<p>The West Coast is populated in a narrow band that is essentially only 50 miles wide from the Canadian Border to Mexico. In Oregon, we have the Willamette Valley (Oregon Trail, Great Migration) where we have Willamette, George Fox, Linfield, University of Portland, Corban, Western Oregon State University, as the major small generalize LAC colleges with enrollments of 1-3K students. These schools are within a thirty mile radius, and serving a population of 2 million. Also within this Valley, are the major State unversities, UO, PSU, OSU of populations of 15K plus students each. The question everyone is asking is does it make sense to have these centers of education so close to one another with overlapping curricula and majors? </p>

<p>In addition we have major CC of Lane, LinnBenton, Chemeketa, Portland, Mt Hood. </p>

<p>A lot of schooling.</p>