In the last month, US universities have been making news!

At the end of March and beginning of April, the most selective schools released their regular decision offers. Application numbers to elite schools continue to be on the rise—though not at the same rate as last year. Harvard and Brown both had larger applicant numbers this year, on top of last year’s dramatic rise, yet the University of Pennsylvania’s and Dartmouth’s application numbers were just shy of last year’s record numbers. Public schools also saw a rise in applications with the University of Pittsburg receiving  62% more applications this year and UVA topping last year’s record of 48,011 to 50,962 this year.  Colgate continues to be the small liberal arts college with the most dramatic rise in applicant numbers. Between this year and last year, the school has seen a 146% increase to their application pool!

One of the reasons application numbers continue to rise is the extension of test-optional policies. Even as the pandemic wanes, some schools will continue their test-optional pathways, notable the University of North Carolina schools. Yet, MIT made waves recently by staying they would reinstate standardized testing requirements. This will most certainly encourage other schools that were reluctant to provide Covid-19 reactive test-optional policies to begin requiring testing, again. We predict Vanderbilt, the University of Michigan, and Georgetown will be next to reinstate their testing requirements.

Even as schools break record application numbers, some have decided to keep official statistics to themselves. In particular, Upenn, Princeton, and Cornell will not release their final acceptance rates even as they provide a picture of their applicant pools. They follow Stanford, who stopped releasing the acceptance rate for their incoming classes in 2018. The decision is controversial in terms of college advising as these data points are key for helping schools, students, and parents make informed and thoughtful decisions.

Another metric often used in college advising, rankings, is also under fire. The new book Breaking Ranks by Colin Diver, takes ranking protocols, and their effects on higher education, to task. Diver, the president of Reed College which stopped submitting information to the US News and World Report for their annual rankings, argues that universities and colleges are about investments in human capacity and cannot be reduced to the statistical models used by too many ranking systems. Though, he also acknowledges that rankings are not going anywhere. At Vela Education, we appreciate Diver’s argument and always work to make transparent the criteria of certain ranking systems and why some schools fair better one list versus another!

If you have any questions about US university news or are interested in applying to a US uni, please reach out to us!  We are here to help.