Private Universities Are Looking at a Low Enrollment

If you've been keeping up Cal State's and other state universities are seeing an increase in their enrollment to the point that they're turning away qualified students in the thousands. Of course this is all about money. So how are the UC's and other private colleges around the country fairing?

Some like Beloit College in Wisconsin plan on cutting 40 positions because they will have 36 fewer students, stated an article in the New York Times.

In that same article Gail Sweezey, director of admissions at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania said that "one-sided" media coverage gave the perception that private colleges are unaffordable in the face of our dwindling economy and that in fact "a lot of private colleges have more financial aid available this year, but there’s lots of misinformation out there."

Whether or not this is true the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities reported that two-thirds of the 371 private universities it surveyed reported an almost 30 percent drop in regular enrollment applications this year compared to this time in 2007. To read the full report click here.

Here are some more stats from the report:

• 82 percent indicated that demand for student aid had been affected or significantly affected.
• 70 percent indicated that student/parent loan availability had been affected or significantly affected.
• 53 percent reported that institutional debt/cost of debt had been affected or significantly affected.
• 52 percent indicated that student enrollment had been affected or significantly affected.