Applicant numbers fall amid recession

Author: Cloe Shasha

The country's stumbling economy has led to a drop in applicants to private colleges - including Middlebury. In January of 2008, soon after the regular decision deadline, the College had received 7,641 applications. This year, by the same time, the number had dropped by 12 percent to 6,771 applicants. The final count, however, is likely to change once more applications are processed.

"Ultimately, that number grew from 7,641 to 7,823 last year," said Dean of Admissions Robert Clagett, referring to the eventual increase in applicants following the Jan. 1 deadline. "So I am guessing that the number will increase somewhat this year as well."

A procedural change may also have contributed to the decrease in applicants, said Clagett. Until this year, Middlebury did not require an application fee up front. As a result, a greater percentage of students ultimately withdrew their applications than is the case at similar liberal arts colleges. This year, the College requested the application fee or the request for a fee waiver at the start of the application process.

"Due to this change, we were already anticipating about 700 to 800 fewer applicants this year than we had last year, and that appears to have been about on target," Clagett continued.

Sofia Zinger '11, a student tour guide, has noticed some changes in the numbers of prospective students visiting Middlebury.

"There is always a drop in the number of people who attend tours in the winter season, so it's hard to tell if the economy has had an effect on applicants," Zinger said. "But this past summer I worked in the admissions office, and starting in July and continuing into the fall there were fewer people interviewing."

According to The New York Times, some schools are suffering as much as a 30 percent drop in their applicant pool. Applications are currently down 16 percent at Hamilton College. Colby College's regular admissions applications are down by about 14 percent, while early decision applications were higher than usual. Colleges that publicize their generous aid programs have fared better this application season, with Yale, Dartmouth and Duke University all having higher application rates than ever.

The College's admissions office will not know until Feb. 1 how many students have applied for financial aid.

"Since we make our admissions decisions on a need-blind basis - at least for all domestic applicants - we don't actually know in the Admissions Office who has applied for aid and who hasn't," Clagett said.