There is a group called the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP).  It is administered
nationally by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) at the University of California at Los Angeles’
Graduate School of Education & Information Studies.  Did you follow that?  Ok, we’ll just call it a UCLA study.

The UCLA study publishes various reports on higher education.  Earlier this year, they published a report called The American Freshman, National Norms, Fall 2008.  Boy I love the way these research groups string their titles together.

Anyway, let me get back to the point.  Here are some interesting findings published in the report…

• The percentage of students who attend their first choice of college has dropped to a 34 year low in 2008 of 60.7%.

• The percentage of students who report that financial aid offers were “very important” or “essential” to choosing which school they would attend jumped from 39.7% in 2007 to 43% in 2008.

• 49.4% of students indicated they would be getting a job to help off set college expenses.  That is the highest response in the history of the survey.

• And some very encouraging news came out of the survey… 60.1% of students were applying to at least four colleges (a record high) compared to 56.4% in 2007.

Obviously finances are playing and larger and larger part in the choice of colleges.  The good news is that students are already figuring out two of the key methods to get around this problem: apply to multiple schools, and be flexible.  Hidden within this study is the solution to the growing problem of high college costs.  Who knows if these students knew they were pursuing the answer, or maybe many of them just stumbled into it.  Whatever the reason the solution is evident…

Do not fall in love with any one school.  Keep your options open as long as possible.  It is fine to have a top choice school, but don’t invest all your emotional energy into that top choice.  You must be flexible.

Apply to multiple schools.  My recommendation is to always apply to at least six colleges, up to ten is preferable.  I cannot overstate the importance of multiple appications.  This is not only your insurance against getting refused by a top choice school, but it is a key to negotiating better financial packages from all schools to which you apply.

Let me add a third to this list not evident in the study.  Always make sure you apply to colleges with generous financial track records, particularly those that meet 90% or more of the student’s financial need.

Obviously there are other strategies to saving money on college.  These three stand out in comparison to the UCLA study.

What has been your experience in applying to colleges?

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