We all know that lots of businesses in the US are struggling in these difficult economic times. What we don’t all know is that higher education is a business like any other and, as such, can be subject to the challenges these circumstances bring.  Inside Higher Ed just published the results of a survey of 462 top admissions officials at US colleges and the findings are disturbing: financial pressures are playing a significant role in decision making at many schools.

Follow the link (http://www.insidehighered.com/news/survey/admissions2011) to the full article, but here are the highlights (perhaps I should say lowlights…) for the college bound:

• For many colleges, a top goal of admissions directors is recruiting more students who can pay more. Among all four-year institutions, the admissions strategy judged most important over the next two or three years — driven by high figures in the public sector — was the recruitment of more out-of-state students (who at public institutions pay significantly more). The runner-up was the strategy of providing more aid for low- and middle-income students.
• Among all sectors of higher education, there is a push to recruit more out-of-state students and international students.
• Recruiting more “full-pay” students — those who don’t need financial aid — is seen as a key goal in public higher education, a sector traditionally known for its commitment to access. At public doctoral and master’s institutions, more admissions directors cited the recruitment of full-pay students as a key strategy than cited providing aid for low-income students. (At doctoral institutions, the gap was 47 percent to 40 percent, and at master’s institutions, the gap was 45 percent to 38 percent).
• The interest in full-pay students is so strong that 10 percent of four-year colleges report that the full-pay students they are admitting have lower grades and test scores than do other admitted applicants.
• At community colleges, a focus on serving students who don’t have money remains central, with 66 percent of admissions directors citing that as a key strategy — more than cited any other strategy. But even in that sector, a notable minority (34 percent) said that an important strategy for the institution was attracting more full-pay students.

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