Citing the Economy, Students Transfer from Private to Public Schools
Public colleges and universities are experiencing a greater influx of transfer applications from private school students as the flagging economy heightens students’ concerns about their ability to pay for college, Bloomberg reports (“Rutgers Sees 50% Jump in Transfers as Economy Sours,” March 5, 2009).
“Students seem to be price shopping,” said Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate
Registrars and Admissions Officers. “People are hedging their bets financially. There is a real economic motivation.”
According to the College Board, students at four-year private colleges pay, on average, $34,130 for tuition, room, and board, while students
attending a four-year public school generally pay only $14,340 — a price discrepancy prompting more students to switch schools as the
recession lingers.
Schools See Sizable Jumps in Transfer Applications
Rutgers University is just one of a growing number of public schools, including state universities in Texas, Indiana, and Florida, that is
seeing more transfer requests coming from students attending private institutions; this year it has received 632 transfer student
applications, which is a 52-percent increase from the 416 applications it received last year.
At Florida Atlantic University, a public school where state residents pay just $3,662 in tuition for a 30 credit-hour semester and are
eligible for state scholarships that cover 75 percent of their college costs as long as they maintain a B average, transfer applications
have increased 37 percent for the summer term and 22 percent for the fall semester. For its summer session starting in June, the school has
already received 265 transfer applications from students at private colleges, a figure that will easily surpass last year’s total of 277.
“I’d love to take credit for it all, but I know the economy has to have some part,” said Barbara Pletcher, Florida Atlantic’s director of
admissions.
While admissions officers have noticed that transfer applications have increased more than in past years and that a greater number of them
have come from students at private colleges, they are quick to point out that applications don’t always translate into enrollments. Students
often don’t realize they can’t afford to pay for school until they receive their tuition bills, by which time it’s too late to transfer and
too late to take out additional student loans to cover the expenses they didn’t account for.
“After they get their tuition bill, you’re going to see a group scrambling and we will be full,” said Jason Langdon, director of admissions
at Montclair State University in New Jersey, which has received 22 percent more transfer applications this year. “The earlier in the process
they can get everything lined up, the better off they’ll be.”