<p>We can all agree that the US economy is undergoing a recession. Some analysts posit that a depression on a grand scale awaits the United States. Everyday, ugly news rears its head from the stock market. JPMorgan Chase agreed to purchase investment banking company Bear Stearns for $2/share. The euro is worth nearly double that of the dollar. It's going to get bad. With all of this in mind, how do you think this will affect the college admissions process? </p>
<p>Have at it!</p>
<p>(By the way, I just found out I won the position of News Editor, so I think this would be a good way to get things going!)</p>
<p>UCLA Anderson School doesn't agree. They say we aren't in a recession and won't fall into one soon. Plus the federal funds rate just got slashed by a quarter a point again. If this trend continues banks will eventually give out home loans at lower interest rates which will ultimately let us break out of this slump. </p>
<p>I personally don't think we are in a recession, right now we are just experiencing bubbles finally being burst in the housing market, especially in California.</p>
<p>Well, more importantly than the actual admissions process, how about FA? Will colleges have to reduce FA packages in the wake of a dangerous recession/depression?</p>
<p>The rate of growth
of endowments may not be that high for the next few years but
the magnitude of the endowments are not going to diminsh any
time soon.....?</p>
<p>FA will only increase not decrease. Schools like Harvard, Stanford,
Princeton and MIT probably have access to financial stability information that
has not been shared by the government bodies in the public
forums. They would not idly announce increase in FA.</p>
<p>"We can all agree that the US economy is undergoing a recession"</p>
<p>Well, as news editor, you shouldn't rely on such generaliations! A recession is defined as 2 quarters of negative growth. Hasn't happened yet.</p>
<p>Certainly the housing market bubble has burst (as it was bound to do) and high levels of debt are a problem.</p>
<p>To answer your original question: I think it will affect where people choose to attend school. Its tough to justify going into a large amount of debt when people are stressed financially. Maybe we will see more people choosing public universities over pricey privates that don't offer a lot of aid.</p>
<p>Some economists don't think there will be a recession, and if there is, it'll be short-lived. If you take out the housing and financial sectors, the economy is doing fine (and growing). A weak dollar means more exports, hence boosting GDP. Blah blah and so on.</p>
<p>I'd say people are still unsure of if we are in a recession right now. The next weeks will be crucial. Last week the market gained more ground than it had in the last 4-5 years (420 points) and today we're down a little bit. I'd like to think that things will level out and we can avoid a complete disaster.</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure you can use the NASDAQ as an indicator for the economy as a whole. That is the main reason formulas like the Dow Jones Industrial 30, NASDAQ and the S+P 500 were created. A 400+ point growth means that banks are starting to regain the confidence they lacked before and lend money to companies to manufacture their goods. Don't forget that this initial "slowdown" is all caused by bad consumerism and subprime loans resulting in cautious lenders alltogether.</p>