The number of high schoolers applying to Penn State has dropped sharply. But Penn State says it was expected due to a tough economy and a smaller pool of prospective students.
Nearly 54,000 students have applied to Penn State this year. That’s 5,000 fewer applications than last year at this time and significantly below the nearly 79,000 applications that were received in 2011-2012.
While that seems like a steep drop — especially considering a 2012 comment in the Patriot-News where the Executive Director for Admissions Anne Rohrbach said that the university was projecting about 70,000 applicants for the 2013-2014 school year — it’s actually on pace for current predictions and is part of a nation-wide trend.
“Student decisions about attending Penn State are being impacted by demographic and economic changes in Pennsylvania and contiguous states. A national trend in higher education, as reported by Moody’s and others, is that nearly half of college students and universities expect enrollment declines for full-time students. Keep in mind that applications do not equal enrollments or paid accepts,” said university spokesperson Lisa Powers.
According to the lead author of Moody’s report, the falling application numbers have been a long time coming. “The cumulative effects of years of depressed family income and net worth, as well as uncertain job prospects for many recent graduates, are combining to soften the student mark demand at current tuition prices,” said Emily Schwarz.
“We all face a declining demographic combined with a really tight economy and concerns about costs, as well as a lot of questions being asked nationally about the value of a degree and significant declines in state funding,” said Powers.
“But Penn State is facing affected by other issues more specific to its geography. “The impact is the greatest in the Northeast where the number of high school seniors is declining.”
One concern that hasn’t had as big an impact as might be expected is the hangover from the Sandusky scandal. “Overall, we have not heard the scandal as a reason that students would not attend.
In fact, in focus groups of college-bound high school seniors of the past year when specifically asked about any impact this may have had on their decision making — these young adults have said it has no bearing on their choices,” said Powers.
Even with falling admissions, the university is confident that there is nothing to worry about. “Most students and their parents just want to make sure that they receive a quality education and that in the end, they will be able to obtain a good job. I think Penn State is well known for its ability to deliver these two things, as well as its vast network of alumni that can assist new graduates in a job search,” said Powers.
As further incentive, $20 million dollars from the University’s Education and General budget line are being made available for scholarships. Although it doesn’t necessarily produce more applications, those funds will help the students who do matter: the students who accept.
“In reality…we are focused on acceptances — not necessarily applications. While we have fewer applications this year, it is the acceptances that make up the incoming class and we are feeling very good about what we are seeing so far,” said Powers.
