Vacancies...

New England Journal of Higher Education, The, Summer 2002

More than 150 New England colleges were still considering both qualified freshman and transfer applications for the fall semester as of the traditional May 1 admissions deadline, according to the New England Board of Higher Education's 2002 Student Vacancy Survey. An additional 18 campuses reported openings for transfer students only.

Of the institutions reporting openings, 47 indicated that certain academic programs, particularly in allied health fields such as nursing and dental hygiene, were already filled.

NEBHE has surveyed New England higher education institutions every year since 1960 as a public service to students who have not chosen a college by May and to measure college application trends.

The 2002 survey also found that New England campuses had received more than 500,000 applications for the fall term-up 4 percent over last year. This follows a 3 percent one-- year jump in freshman applications last year and a 5 percent increase in May 2000.

One reason college applications have been rising is that the number of traditional college-age New Englanders has grown steadily since 1995, when the region emerged from a 15-year downturn in the number of 18-year-olds. New England's high schools are expected to graduate more than 127,000 seniors this spring, up more than 2 percent over last year, though growth in New England's high school graduating class still lags behind the nation's.

It seems that every year, admissions officers note that this year's graduating seniors are more consumerist, more organized than the one before. A few years ago, students began haggling over their financial aid packages. The latest trend: students contesting admissions rejections.