Economy leaves college applicants cautious

The Record (Hackensack N.J.) (MCT) - Take a bad economy, mix in a record number of high school graduates and you've got one unpredictable and particularly maddening season in college admissions.

"The historical trend lines mean nothing," said Jonathan Wexler, admissions director at Fairleigh Dickinson University. "I still don't sleep well at night because you don't know what's going to happen."

At this stage of the game, applicants and their families have likely heard whether they've gained admission to schools. But that's only half the battle _ particularly in a year when finances are topsy- turvy.

In these next two weeks, the admitted students will be poring over financial aid packages and deciding just what they can afford before they have to commit to schools in May.

"April is really the critical month," said Kristen Campbell, director of college prep programs for Kaplan Testing. "Things are competitive every year, but this year, with the economy, everything is turned on its head."

Fairleigh Dickinson offers a case in point. Conventional wisdom would hold that, given the economy, students would eschew private schools _ with tuition of nearly $30,000. Yet applications are up by nearly a third over last year at the university, said Wexler.

Ninety percent of those applicants are from New Jersey, and Wexler surmises that the school's location in a high population area is an advantage as families realize they might not be able to afford to send their kids out of state for college.

New Jersey's state aid packages are still good relative to other states. Local guidance counselors are reporting more former students are sending home for transcripts because they are transferring back from out-of-state schools.

Wexler said the average applicant at FDU is able to cobble together about $19,000 in state, federal and private loans and grants to offset the $28,000 tuition. "In some cases, the tuition gets near the state school level," said Wexler. "People are seeing what's doable, and that they can make it work."

He's noticed a difference at financial aid meetings. "Four or five years ago, parents wouldn't bring their sons or daughters into financial aid meetings, now they do. They want the kids to know what the situation is."

Indeed, with mutual funds tanking and home equity drying up, parents and student are, well, getting real.

"The bait now is the bucks," said Phyllis Saletan, a guidance counselor at Wayne Valley High School. Kids might go to a "fallback" school rather than a "reach" school if the price is right, she said.

She noted a student whose parents prevailed upon her to choose Ramapo College over Northeastern University after Ramapo offered a presidential scholarship that covered tuition and fees.

Save Now | 15% Off Jewelry

"People are being cautious, they want to look at everything," said Colleen O'Connor, admissions director at William Paterson University. "A lot depends on financial aid packages. It's an important part of the decision-making process."

"We're trying to be really creative in what we do in keeping it affordable," said O'Connor. Annual tuition at the school, like most state colleges, hovers around $10,000.

Demographics have added to the frenzy this year, with a record number of high school graduates ramping up the competition. The nation's top schools are admitting as few as 7 percent of applicants.

"I know this is a big class, but what a production this is," said one exasperated mom. Her son, who is graduating in the top 5 percent of his class at a competitive high school in northwestern Bergen County, N.J., was accepted to several costly and prestigious private schools.

Now the family is weighing financial aid packages. Villanova University, for instance, gave him a $7,000 scholarship and $3,000 in work-study assurances. The numbers, however, don't come close to the $52,000 price tag. So the son is taking a hard look at Rutgers, which offered him a $10,000 scholarship _ about the full cost of tuition. He was also offered merit money from The College of New Jersey.

"We're certainly considering (the New Jersey schools), you have to," said the mom. "My son understands the realities of it."

Applications at most state colleges are up. WPU had a 23 percent increase this year, O'Connor said, with more than 9,000 applicants for a freshman class of just over 1,200. Officials there are considering expanding that class by a few hundred students, O'Connor said.

Still, O'Connor, like other admissions officials, knows there are more than a few wild cards out there this season.

"It's hard to predict this year, there are so many different variables, people are losing their jobs," O'Connor said. "I just hope the people are ready to put the money down and come."

___

© 2009, North Jersey Media Group Inc.