September 25, 2008
(Arlington, VA) – As the number of high school graduates grows, so, too, does the number of applications they are submitting to the nation’s four-year colleges and universities, according to the 2008 State of College Admission report by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC). The association released the sixth annual report during its national conference in Seattle, WA.
While the number of students and applications reached another all-time high, the average (mean) acceptance rate for four-year colleges and universities is much the same as it was when such statistics were first measured nationally in the 1980s. The increasing number of applications students submit may contribute to a more complicated admission environment, including increased uncertainty for colleges about who will attend if accepted, more admission strategies aimed at identifying students likely to attend, and greater attention to factors like a student’s interest in attending a college in the admission decision.
NACAC President Kimberly Johnston, Senior Associate Director of Admission at the University of Maine, stated, “College admission has changed a great deal over the past two decades, as uncertainty about whether and where students will get admitted seem to pervade the application process for many students. However, the good news is that there is room for everyone who wants to attend a four-year college in the United States.”
Other trends and information noted in the 2008 report include:
- Continued Increase in Number of High School Graduates: In 2007–08, an estimated 3.3 million students graduated from high school in the United States. The number of high school graduates is expected to peak with a graduating class of 3.33 million in 2008–09, but is not expected to fall below 3.2 million through 2016–17. However, there are wide variations by state and region, and some states are experiencing substantial declines in high school graduates.
- Applications Increase Again: For the third year in a row, approximately three-quarters of four-year colleges and universities reported an increase in the number of applications from the previous year. The number of applications that individual students submit also has continued to increase. Nineteen percent of freshman had submitted seven or more applications for admission.
- Colleges Accept 68 Percent of Applicants: The average selectivity rate—percentage of applicants who are offered admission—at four-year colleges and universities in the United States was 68 percent for Fall 2006. The average institutional yield rate—percentage of admitted students who enroll—was 46 percent.
- Admission Offices Identify Grades, High School Curriculum and Test Scores as Top Factors: The top factors in the admission decision were (in order): grades in college preparatory courses, strength of curriculum, standardized admission test scores, and overall high school grade point average. The application essay and class rank placed fifth and sixth, followed closely by student’s demonstrated interest in attending, counselor recommendations and teacher recommendations.
- Students’ Demonstrated Interest in Attending: Over the past five years, an increasing proportion of colleges and universities have rated a student’s demonstrated interest in attending an institution as a “considerably important” factor in the admission decision. The percentage increased from seven in 2003 (the first year it was included on NACAC’s Admission Trends Survey) to 22 percent in 2007.
- Online Applications Increase: Colleges received 68 percent of all applications for Fall 2007 admission online, up from 58 percent in the Fall 2006 admission cycle.
- Student to Counselor Ratio: According to data from the U.S. Department of Education, in 2004–05, the national public school student-to-counselor ratio was 474:1, including K–12 schools. NACAC survey data indicated an average secondary school student-to-counselor ratio, including part-time staff, of 247:1.
- Why Colleges Revoke Admission Offers: More than one-third (35 percent) of colleges reported that they had revoked and offer of admission during the Fall 2007 admission cycle. A decline in final grades was the most common reason for these retractions, followed by falsification of application information and disciplinary issues. When asked to indicate how likely various disciplinary issues were to result in the retraction of an admission offer, violence was by far the most likely, followed by cheating, drug-related offenses and theft.
- Disclosure of Student Disciplinary Information to Colleges: Nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of secondary schools do not have written policies related to disclosure of disciplinary information to colleges. As general practice, 23 percent of secondary schools reported that they disclose student disciplinary information to colleges, and an additional 39 percent disclose in some cases.
Topics addressed in the full report include high school graduation and college enrollment, applications to college, admission strategies used by colleges and universities, budgets and functions of admission offices, and high school counselor workloads and duties. Information about purchasing the full report is available online at www.nacacnet.org.
In addition, NACAC released a supplemental Research-to-Practice brief on the release of student disciplinary information to colleges. NACAC’s Statement of Principles of Good Practice recommends that high schools maintain written policies governing the release of student disciplinary information to colleges during the admission process. In light of the tragedy at Virginia Tech in 2007, the association collected information from high schools across the country as a response to continued interest from secondary schools, colleges, and the public about the process of communicating disciplinary information to colleges. The full text of that report is available for NACAC members online at www.nacacnet.org.
About NACAC: NACAC is an Alexandria, VA-based education association of more than 11,000 primary and secondary school counselors, independent counselors, college admission and financial aid officers, enrollment managers, and organizations that work with students as they make the transition from high school to postsecondary education. The association is committed to maintaining high standards that foster ethical and social responsibility among those involved in the transition process, as outlined in the NACAC Statement of Principles of Good Practice.