Recently, EAB, an education consultancy, released the results of a survey of 182 national colleges and universities while The Princeton Review released its College Hopes and Worries Survey of roughly 9,000 students and parents for the 23rd year. In an industry that is often full of opinions while being light on data, we welcome both surveys. For many families, the college process is frustrating and confusing in part due to the number of unsupported opinions they hear. We thought it would be worthwhile highlighting some of the more interesting details of both surveys as they provide families with some more concrete observations.
With the elimination of Affirmative Action, there is a school of thought that diversity will be a much smaller factor in college admissions. In the EAB survey, at selective schools diversity remains a top priority (#3 priority), and combined with an even greater focus on international students (#2 priority) may point to new avenues schools are using to hit their diversity goals. Of some interest is Bowdoin’s move to “need blind” for international students in 2022 and Notre Dame’s more recent move to international “need blind.” In brief, colleges still value diverse campuses.
As colleges see increasing pressure on their admissions yields, more and more schools have turned to predictive analytics to help them find and accept the students most likely to attend their school. Virtual events are consistently mentioned as a key part of the predictive models run by schools, and it was interesting to see Appily virtual tours mentioned as the #1 recruiting tool after standardized test lists in the EAB survey. From our standpoint, Appily virtual tours on college websites should be attended and the questions asked before the tour or to add personalization should be answered as colleges clearly track and value students who attend them.
We have written extensively on AI and to us, AI usage in college admissions is simply another term for using algorithms and predictive analytics to help determine the students that colleges should be accepting. Combining schools increasing AI usage with schools starting to use AI in the EAB survey would make AI investment and usage the top priority for enrollment leaders in 2025. Those with an understanding of how to appeal to the algorithms and analytics used by colleges will be increasingly advantaged in the admissions process.
This year’s Princeton Review survey provides some solid confirming data on the drivers of college selection. Looking at the past 5 years of the College Hopes and Worries survey shows overall fit and affordability growing as the driving factors behind college selection, while academic reputation looks to be slightly declining. Surprisingly, the best college programs related to career ambitions continues to decline. EAB’s survey highlights schools competing more aggressively with merit aid and increasing aid budgets a top priority for colleges, making affordability an increasing important driver of admissions at the expense of academic reputation. Understanding school balance sheets and their ability to compete financially is likely to be increasingly important in the admissions process.
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