1. What Admissions dEANs think
Webinar on Inside Higher Ed/Gallup survey
of college and university admissions directors
Thursday, October 6 at 2 p.m. Eastern

2. Presenters
Scott Jaschik, editor, Inside Higher Ed,
Doug Lederman, editor, Inside Higher Ed,

3. Methodology Questions prepared by Inside Higher Ed and Gallup.
Responses from 339 admissions directors (or senior person on admissions/enrollment management).
Complete anonymity for those responding, but sorting by sector.
Support from Hobsons, Jenzabar, NRCCUA, TimeTrade and the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.

4. The Pressure Is On
37% of admissions directors reported meeting goals by May 1, down from 42% a year ago.
Community colleges see largest drop: from 20% to 9%.
Only 5% of admissions directors weren’t concerned about meeting their targets this year.

5. Top Targets Target Public Private Minority students 74% 65%
Transfer students
62%
68%
First generation students
52%
Out-of-state students
44%
67%
”Full pay” students
39%
51%
International students
34%
55%
Students recruited with non-need based scholarships
41%
63%
Veterans
46%

6. Losing Applicants to Debt
51% of admissions directors at public universities said they believe they are losing applicants due to concerns about debt.
87% of those in private higher education feel this way.

7. How Much Debt Is Reasonable?
Public
Private
< $5,000 7% 2%
$5,000 to < $10,000
21% 3%
$10,000 to < $20,000
37%
15%
$20,000 to < $30,000
27%
45%
$30,000 to < $40,000
$40,000 to < $50,000 0%
10%
$50,000 and up 4%

8. Mixed Reactions on Clinton Plan
Support greater (but not uniform) in public higher education.
Admissions directors at public institutions see the plan helping their institutions. Opposite at private colleges.
Few (public or private) expect action in Congress in event of Clinton victory.

9. Prior Prior Year
39% of admissions directors agree or strongly agree that their institutions will be making admissions decisions earlier than in the past.
66% agree or strongly agree that their institutions will make financial aid awards earlier in the year than in the past.
43% of admissions leaders agree or strongly agree that their colleges are likely to change one or more key dates.

10. Affirmative Action: Post-Fisher
73% of admissions directors said they believed the Supreme Court ruling would preserve the legal right to consider race and ethnicity for the foreseeable future.
Just 13% of colleges said they conducted studies similar to those the Supreme Court cited as making the U of Texas approach legal.
24% said they planned to either start or continue such studies.

11. Asians and the Applicant Pool
Statement
Public % Yes
Private % Yes
Do you believe that some colleges are holding Asian-American applicants to higher standards?
39%
42%
At your college, do Asian-American applicants who are admitted generally have higher grades and test scores than other applicants?
41%
30%

12. The Coalition
29% agree or strongly agree that the Common Application needs to have more competition.
23% agree or strongly agree that the “digital locker” is a good way to prepare for college and the admissions process.
15% of admissions directors agree or strongly agree that the coalition application would encourage more applications from minority and disadvantaged applicants.

13. The New SAT Statement Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree
Strongly Disagree
The new SAT version represents significant improvement over the old version. 2%
12%
65%
13% 9%
I expect more colleges to go test optional in the years ahead.
26%
47%
22% 4%
I consider the writing test on the SAT to be a good measure of student writing ability. 0%
19%
44%
21%
16%
I consider the writing test on the ACT to be a good measure of student writing ability.
18%
15%

14. Banning the Box - I Question Public % Yes Private % Yes
Does your college seek information, from applicants or their high schools, on whether applicants have a disciplinary or legal record?
43%
87%
Is your college re-considering whether such information is an appropriate criterion? (asked only of those who currently seek such information)
26%
24%
Are admissions officers at your institution provided with special training on how to evaluate disciplinary or legal information? (asked only of those who currently seek such information)
49%
48%

15. Banning the Box -- II Statement % Yes Public % Yes Private
Institutions should not ask any questions about applicants’ disciplinary or legal infractions.
23% 2%
Institutions should significantly limit the scope of disciplinary or legal infractions that they ask applicants about [for example: only recent incidents or violent incidents].
45%
49%
Institutions should ask all applicants to report all disciplinary or legal infractions.
33%

16. The Value of Higher Education
Statement
% Public Agree/ Strongly Agree
% Private Agree/ Strongly Agree
Higher education needs to do a better job of explaining the value of earning college degrees.
81%
90%
Media reports of college graduates who are unemployed/underemployed
have discouraged students from considering higher education.
49%
59%
Prospective students understand the value of a liberal arts education.
10%
15%
Parents of prospective students understand the value of a liberal arts education.
14%
16%

17. Your Questions
--Questions. --Suggestions for questions to include next year.

18. With Thanks …