Larger well-known schools overflowing.
or maybe rush to value. Public colleges with low tuition and excellent education,like VT, offer very good value.
Yes I think parents are more value conscience. When I was young it was a luxury to contemplate a private school and the associated costs and yes there were “scholarship” kids mixed in and you knew who they were because they typically had work study. Then there was a period of time where people made colleges interchangeable with the expectation that the privates would discount tuition for “the right kid” and make cost equal and to some extent the degree was a degree and kids found jobs so more kids applied to privates and it got more competitive and yes the private colleges were doing heavy discounting. I feel like we are shifting to an era where parents expect the outcomes to be commensurate with the apparent selectivity of the school and determines the amount a parent is willing to pay which is very much a value proposition in my opinion. The discounting isn’t as grand as it was 15 years ago and excellent colleges like Beloit end up on the May still taking students lists. For the costs parents are gunning for more perceived known schools because they literally expect a financial return on their investment post college for their kids.
Not surprising that schools with strong STEM programs provide more value. Value, ultimately, is determined by the market and parents are well aware of that, especially after the great recession.
Kudos to public universities- the backbone of American education!
UC apps were down this year.
When you get over 50K apps why even count?? Or bother applying. It’s silly.