title
That’s actually a pretty complex question. Acceptance rates have been trending down because of several factors. One is the demand for a college education. Another is the advent of the common app and the new advised number of applications. The number of “spots” at schools has on the whole remained the same as it was a decade ago, but with more applications coming in, more people get rejected. At the same time, when there are many more applicants than spots, it gets more competitive to snag a spot. It used to be that kids applied to 4-6 schools; now the recommendation is 10 with many going above that.
If things stay as they are, I think eventually the rates will return to where they were prior to the '08 recession. The consequences of the costs of college are becoming more of a hurdle, which will lead to fewer applicants. Since old millenials aren’t procreating at the rates of previous generations, it won’t be too much longer until there aren’t as many potential applicants. Development of alternative education options or changing financial policy may throw everything off-trend though.
The increase in international applicants are another reason acceptance rates are decreasing and I don’t see that changing in the foreseeable future.
@happy1, actually international applications are down this year and last. A huge part of it is our politics and current administration - it’s beginning to scare people off. Another is the significant competition for international applicants from Australia, UK and English-language programs in Western Europe.
@katliamom Not sure that is the case for the very top tier colleges (which is what I’m thinking the OP is referring to based on prior posts) – I’m not going to check all the schools but as two examples Harvard has a higher percent of internationals in the class of 2022 versus the class of 2021 and at Penn the number of international applicants increased 6%. In any event rather than debate the subject, the OP can research if a continued rise in international applications impacts any schools he/she is interested in.
That’s true, happy1. I should have specified that the OVERALL number of international applicants is down; Harvard et. al., are unlikely to ever experience a lack of international (or domestic!) candidates.
However it’s true that Australia and the UK have become major magnets for international student dollars. They have highly successful – and well funded – marketing campaigns targeting students all over the world. Go to any higher education fair and you will be surprised by just how many representatives from these two countries you’ll see. Them, and Utrecht, Maastricht, Lausanne, Edinburgh, etc.
I think there may be a small increase of internationals applying over the next few years as EU residents who previously got reduced tuition at British universities are now going to be losing that after Brexit next year and the new international tuition rate they will have to pay may make it unaffordable for some who will turn to US colleges which will offer them financial aid.