New strategies include changing academic offerings and lowering prices … All of these changes are a response to a crisis few outside higher education even know exists: a sharp drop in the number of customers bound for small private, nonprofit colleges like this in particular, and also some public universities and other higher-education institutions. …
… The result is that the number of students in colleges and universities has now dropped for five straight years, according to the National Student Clearinghouse, which tracks this — and this year is the worst so far, with 81,000 fewer high school graduates nationwide heading to places like Ohio Wesleyan, whose entering freshman class is down 9 percent from last year.
I live in Ohio and had a D graduate HS in 2013 with a class of 732 and a D graduate in 2016 with a class of 687. Some of that could be an anomaly but I really do think the number of graduating seniors in general is decreasing. Ohio doesn’t not have as much immigration from Mexico and South America as some states and Ohio has a lot of both public and private colleges. It will be interesting.
@lvvcsf: Not everywhere, but HS populations are definitely dropping in those areas of the Midwest and Northeast that doesn’t get a steady flow of immigrants. Soon will in the South as well.
That and the huge number of colleges in OH is why OH schools are more generous with merit money than equivalent schools on the coasts.
These schools should be targets for strong applicants (esp. ORM) in need for big aid package. Many of them still has high quality and good reputation. I have told my students (ORMs mostly) with 3.7 GPAs and ~1400 SAT to look into these schools, esp. if they need strong aid package. The game will change once people realizes how difficult for unhooked ORMs to get into the top/ top-middle tier and the financial cost come with it even with admission. JMHO
@BigflowerSusie: The top tier, definitely. It’s insane for unhooked ORM and you have to stand out in one/several ways (in a national/international manner) or apply ED to certain schools. Just below the Ivies/equivalents tier, it’s still not certain, but at least possible for ORM. Especially LACs and other schools in rural areas where ORM really aren’t ORM and minorities.
But for an “average excellent” unhooked kid who wants to get in to a top 20 and doesn’t apply ED, the 3-2 path to Columbia/WashU (and arguably Dartmouth, though the 3-2 transfer there is not guaranteed) is probably the easiest way now*. A lot of those would be through LACs that do not have a big brand name but have faculty who teach well and really care about their students.
*Not counting non-traditional options like Columbia GS, UPenn LPS, or Harvard Extension School.