Many private colleges have admitted more students than usual this year, hedging their bets as they wait to find out whether families find higher tuitions difficult to manage in the recession.
After years of increasing selectivity driven by bumper crops of strong applicants, many private college officials are concerned that more students will turn to public universities, which are less expensive. As of today’s deadline to notify most applicants, many schools have sent out more acceptance letters and e-mails, built bigger waiting lists and pumped more money into financial aid to lure students to their campuses.
The bottom line: It will be slightly easier to gain admission to some private colleges this year, officials said.
The private schools’ concerns are part of a confusing overall admissions picture for the high school Class of 2009, the largest ever at 3 million students. Many public universities have experienced increases in applications, but it is unclear whether that has made admission more difficult across the board. And some elite universities such as Harvard and Dartmouth are even more competitive than usual this year, in part because they have assured low-income students that they won’t have to borrow money to pay their costs.
