College Applicants Reconsider Options as Recession Hits

Posted on December 8, 2008
Filed Under News, The Daily Prereq | By Mike Dang

With higher education becoming increasingly unaffordable, college applicants are reconsidering where they might find themselves come next fall. According to The Los Angeles Times, high school seniors are looking at more public colleges near home in case those expensive East Coast private schools don’t offer enough financial aid. Some high schools counselors say they’re seeing their students applying to 10 or 11 colleges this year, up from about nine last year. In California, this means applying to Cal State schools along with the UC’s and Stanfords, so that mom and dad can focus on hanging onto their job instead of making their kid’s Ivy League dreams come true. With so many students looking close to home, it might make it slightly harder to get into those public schools:

By UC’s Nov. 30 deadline, preliminary figures suggested a 2% to 3% increase in freshman applications over last year, said Susan Wilbur, the university’s systemwide director of undergraduate admissions. Because the number of high school graduates statewide is about the same as last year, she said the growth indicates greater demand for UC slots, although the economy’s role is unclear.

Hmmm, in that case, maybe it’s not a bad idea to add a couple of more schools to the list.

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