While holistic review can be interpreted differently depending on the institution, there is one common thread that links them. Bonus: Schools can take advantage of this strategy to avoid scrutiny from skeptics.
Seven of the 10 institutions to sport the most distressing drops in Pell Grant-eligible students had a per-student endowment below $100,000, according to a new report from The New York Times.
Whether rebounding from a sluggish 2022 or rivaling pre-pandemic enrollment numbers, colleges and universities embraced a variety of initiatives to win new students and maintain a healthy cohort.
Recommended for the chopping block was the entire Department of World Languages, Literatures and Linguistics, which houses bachelor's programs in Chinese Studies, French, German Studies, Russian Studies and Spanish.
Eight months in, the University of St. Thomas' president discusses cultivating the mind, body and spirit of America's "loneliest age cohort" while delivering "world-class employment outcomes."
A report published by the Higher Ed Immigration Portal found that U.S. immigration denied 50% of African student visas between 2015 and 2022. This, despite the fact "the growth in the world’s labor market is in Africa," according to Rebecca Winthrop, director of the Center for University Education at Brookings. "As other parts of the world age, Africa will grow its population and today’s children will be the talent tomorrow’s global companies will be recruiting."
National Student Clearinghouse found first-year students have a 67.2% retention rate, besting pre-pandemic averages. NSCRC defines retention as students who remain at a given institution for their second year instead of transferring, which counts toward persistence.
Many institutions continue to rely on outdated financial planning tools. Nearly 50% still use spreadsheets for forecasting and tuition projections, and nearly a third use spreadsheets for budgeting, according to a Syntellis survey.
"You have to be open to fertility," Decker says. "You can’t just sit there and say, 'Nothing’s good except what we’ve been doing for the last 40 years.'"
The number of Pell-eligible and first-generation students has increased by 10% or more since Johns Hopkins University stopped legacy admissions in 2013.
