Decline in applications for Class of 2018

<p>Surprised to see a 10% decline in applications to Middlebury for the class of 2018. That is fairly sizable, especially when most colleges/universities are seeing a solid uptick. Any thoughts on why?</p>

<p>From Middlebury’s website. </p>

<p>Middlebury College has extended offers of admission to 1,422 students — 17.3 percent of its applicant pool — for its Class of 2018. They include 327 students who were admitted through early decision last December, or in early February. This year a total of 8,196 students, the fourth largest in the College’s history, applied to Middlebury. While that number represents a drop in comparison to the last three years, the College also is accepting fewer students due to the unexpectedly high number of admitted students who chose to enroll last year.</p>

<p>“After doubling our applicant pool during the last decade, we expect to experience intermittent decreases,” said Middlebury College Dean of Admissions Greg Buckles. “Fortunately the candidates we selected from this year’s applicants are as strong or stronger than ever in many areas, including academics, extracurricular activities, and socioeconomic diversity.”</p>

<p>According to Buckles, many of Middlebury’s peer schools as well as a number of institutions across the spectrum of higher education also saw a decrease in applicants this year. But no single factor has emerged as the cause. “It’s a combination of changes to the Common Application and some technical glitches associated with that rollout, as well as a drop in the number of high school-aged students—a demographic change occurring in the US and around the world,” he said. This year Middlebury received 10 percent fewer applications than the record-high 9,112 submitted last year.</p>

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<li>See more at: <a href=“Middlebury News and Announcements”>Middlebury News and Announcements;
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<p>I would hazard a guess that part of the decline is due to the large gap between what Middlebury thinks a middle class family’s expected family contribution is and what is truly affordable. A family that makes about 150K a year is expected to pay well over 35K in EFC. That’s well over $125K for 4 years. A lot of money and when either of the parents could lose their job due to the economy, that’s putting a family’s financial stability at serious risk. Parents run the financial calculator and say to their kid, “Don’t bother to apply. We can’t pay that much for college.”</p>

<p>Williams had an 8% decline as well…I wouldn’t look too much into it if i were you…it doesn’t really matter from one year to the next… these stats only matter when seen over a longer period of time, like 10 years.</p>

<p>I’m not so sure it’s LACs as much as it’s rural schools. Applicants are flocking to urban schools right now. Just look at how applications have increased at UChicago and Columbia. Since most LACs are not in urban environments they are not as “hot” right now, but this is cyclical. </p>

<p>The trend is away from fact-based education (as access to facts, through Google, WolframAlpha, etc., becomes ubiquitous, the value of fact-based knowledge decreases). The value will be in problem-solving-education and that is where LACs thrive. Anyone can get the facts. It’s the person who knows what to do with them who has real value. My point is simply that this shift is merely a geographic one and that, if anything, LACs are poised to take off. </p>

<p>I will be honest to say I am a tad anxious to see who is put at the helm with Liebowitz leaving… back in 2009 when S was accepted and colleges were in the midst of the financial crunch, it became very much about an analysis of leadership since it was hard to tell from catalogs and the rest what the future would hold (what would be cut, become a thing of the past etc) and adjusting expectations amid the unknown. Midd just seemed very proactive in making key adjustments before they were forced to… unlike some other LACs who may have had a larger endowment but had to put many capital improvements on the back burner (or toss them out all together). Just my opinion, but leadership plays a much larger role at a smaller college than a big state flagship or larger University.</p>

<p>Is anyone attending the Preview Days for accepted students right now that can report on whether there has been any mention by the administration on the number of students actually committing to attend? Just trying to get a sense of what the yield might be.</p>

<p>Historically it’s in the 39-44% range. Don’t know why it will be different this year.<br>
<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2014/01/30/top-liberal-arts-colleges-where-accepted-students-usually-enroll”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2014/01/30/top-liberal-arts-colleges-where-accepted-students-usually-enroll&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;