Attention Freshmen and Transfer Students: Colleges Still Have Openings

Almost 260 colleges and universities around the country still have openings for students, and most of these schools still have ample financial aid available, according to survey results from the National Association for College Admission Counseling (“NACAC Survey: Space and Financial Aid Still Available for Students On College Campuses,” May 2009).

Results from this year’s NACAC annual survey, Space Availability Survey: Openings for Qualified Students, indicated that schools still have spaces available for both freshmen and transfer students who may have not been accepted to their first choice schools or who have yet to apply to college. And, 97 percent of the institutions said they had housing space remaining.

The survey, conducted shortly after the May 1 “decision date” deadline, by which many schools require students to confirm their attendance and submit deposits, is designed as a tool for families, counselors, and teachers to help students who have not yet completed the college admissions process.

More than 70 percent of the 258 NACAC member schools that, in the survey, said they still had spaces available were private institutions. Many of these schools had anticipated lower enrollment numbers this fall after a separate survey found that the recession was forcing one out of six students to change their college plans (“Will the Economy Really Change Students’ College Plans? Signs Say Yes,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 24, 2009).

That survey, conducted by the College Board and the higher-education consulting firm the Art & Science Group, indicated that 41 percent of students were seriously considering a public college closer to home over a private institution.

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