Higher Education Appears to be Recession-Proof As Colleges Report Increased Numbers of Applicants

Higher Education Appears to be Recession-Proof As Colleges Report Increased Numbers of Applicants

The average cost of private college tuition has risen to more than $25,000 per year, according to the College Board, but the increased cost of college coupled with the economic recession is not deterring high school seniors from applying. Application numbers from some of the country's top schools are in and the results thus far indicate that on average colleges received upwards of 10 percent more applications for the class of 2013 than they did the previous year.

Among those institutions reporting the largest increases in applicants are:

• Brown University: approximately 25,000 applications (+21%)
• Duke University: 23,750 applications (+16.7%)
• University of Virginia: 21,511 applications (+16%)
• Yale University: 25,925 applications (+13.8%)
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology: approximately 15,000 applications (+12%)

Among the schools reporting increases of less than 10 percent are:

• University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill: approximately 23,000 applications (+9%)
• Dartmouth College: 18,007 applications (+8.9%)
• Harvard University: approximately 29,000 applications (+5%)
• Princeton University: 21,869 applications (+2%)
• UC-Berkeley: 48,627 (+0.4%)

"Despite economic uncertainty, it seems that these students and their parents believe that college is a worthwhile investment," said Katherine Cohen, Ph.D., founder and CEO of IvyWise and Applywise college counseling and the author of The Truth About Getting In.

Dr. Cohen noted that the increased numbers of applicants makes sense, given that the high school graduating class of 2009 will be the largest in America's history, with 3.2 million students getting their diplomas. "These students have been working hard to get into the colleges of their dreams, and apparently, they are not letting economic conditions deter them from seeking the education that best meets their needs," she said.

According to Dr. Cohen, some colleges are experiencing a slight gender gap, with female applicants exceeding male applicants by anywhere from 5 to 20 percent. In fact, Yale reported that 55% of its current applicant pool is female.

"This isn't completely surprising. Liberal arts colleges saw the gender gap widening over a decade ago. Now, highly selective universities are seeing it, too. Currently the ratio of girls to boys applying to and attending college is 60:40 and some colleges are actually implementing affirmative action for boys. So, I counsel my students on how this trend might play a role in how their applications are reviewed by a college," Dr. Cohen explained.

Her sentiments are shared by leaders in the college counseling community. Ralph Figueroa, Director of College Guidance at Albuquerque Academy agreed. "We are very direct with our female students and their parents, telling them that the process is just a little bit harder on them than on their male classmates. Seeing this trend extend into the national universities is a little discouraging, but it is just a reality we all need to recognize," Figueroa stated.

Jon Reider, Director of College Counseling at San Francisco University High School advises families not to overreact. "The differences between the students admitted by competitive colleges, regardless of gender, are still going to be modest. Yale, for example, will admit students who made the most compelling case to be part of that community."

The bottom line-there is more competition than ever before to get into college and high school seniors should brace themselves for potential disappointment. "April will be a stressful month," warns Dr. Cohen. "Not only will many wonderful students not get into their top choice school, but if they do, their parents will still have to worry about whether there will be enough personal resources and financial aid available to make their child's dream a reality."