The current financial crisis has raised concerns about student enrollment rates. This week, the New York Times reports that student enrollment figures for “more than a dozen top-colleges” starting next autumn was on par with those who began last year. These enrollment numbers often came at a cost though, as many top colleges revealed an increase in financial aid support to students.

Some of the universities in question include Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Wesleyan, Smith, Kenyon, Whitman, Pomona College, the University of Virginia, and the University of Wisconsin.

Indeed, the current economic downturn shows that those most at risk of losing their job are the uneducated. Students realize the importance of obtaining a degree to their future career stability, and the more funding colleges receive for financial aid and scholarships, the easier it becomes for students to get an education.

The Senior Associate Dean of Admission at Wesleyan University, Greg Pike, echoes the same wonderment across other university admission boards that the current economy has not “really driven the yield down”. Wesleyan received 760 accepted applicant forms from future students, about the same figure as last year.

Jeffrey Benzel, the Dean of Undergraduate Admissions at Yale, also voices that Yale is experiencing similar numbers to last year, stating that, “Our yield so far has been significantly stronger than we expected.” He is surprised that more students haven’t accepted scholarships elsewhere, given that many potential Yale students are not entitled to need-based financial aid.

Another concern that has been raised is whether public educational institutions are receiving too many applications. At the State University of New York at New Paltz, accepted student numbers were lowered from last year’s figures and limited to 15,250, slashing several hundred fewer spots than what was on offer the previous year.

Almost 20,000 full and part time students are enrolled in John Hopkins University across three campuses. Part time students comprise of 40 percent of the total student enrollment.

Enrollment is made easy at online college eCornell, which offers access to enrollment counselors and a blog dedicated to enrollment to assist future students.

Source: The New York Times.