NOVEMBER 11, 2008 • eWeekly is best viewed in your browser. • Feel free to forward eWeekly to a friend. |
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Campus sustainability award-winners Online enrollment growth is significant Overheard at the Sloan-C OnLine Learning Conference
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 The market may be down but enrollment goals are not by Kimberley Buster-Williams
The anemic economy appears to be affecting different admissions offices in different ways. Enrollment managers are closely monitoring application fee waiver requests and enrollment deposits. Regional population bulges and the ability of some campuses to meet financial need (or not) has led to speculation that there will be both feast and famine among U.S. colleges and universities.
According to Tony Bankston, dean of admissions at Illinois Wesleyan University, “We do not have an application fee. Our prospects and applications are running ahead of last year. Hopefully it's a good sign that students are still looking around at different options." According to AdmissionsAdvice.com, a student applying to six or more colleges can easily pay $500 in application fees, which range from $25 to $90. Add $9.50 for each SAT score report or $8.50 for ACT. Add related costs, such as postage, interview travel and the transcript fees now charged by some high schools, and families can feel overwhelmed with college costs before a single acceptance letter has arrived. To lower the cost, Rollins College in Florida and Union College in New York are among a number of campuses that waive fees for prospects who sign on to their mailing lists early in the year. The University of Maryland allows National Merit Scholar finalists and semi-finalists to apply for free. Other institutions waive application fees for students who visit campus, are the children of alumni, or who apply by a certain deadline. The College Board publishes a directory of schools that waive application fees. Fee waivers are one example of admissions directors seeing and responding to the handwriting on the wall.
Kimberley Buster-Williams is the director of admissions at the University of Michigan, Flint. She may be reached at kbwill@umflint.edu |
Greentree Gazette personnel will be at these conferences:
• Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education Second Biennial Conference: November 9-11, Raleigh, NC
• Consumer Bankers Association 2008 Student Lending Conference: December 3-5, Arlington, VA
4th Annual Community College Enrollment Management and Student Marketing Symposium
Sponsored by SEM WORKS--a leading higher education consulting firm, and SAS--the leading intelligence solutions software company for more than 2,000 educational institutions worldwide. Supported by NISOD and the League for Innovation in the Community College. SAS Institute, Raleigh, NC, February 23-25
See more upcoming conferences on GreentreeGazette.com.
“Diversity is not just multiculturalism. Diversity encompasses all persons who encounter barriers to education whether they are physical, social, or financial.”
Rey Hernandez, Diversity Coordinator, NorthWest Arkansas Community College
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