Although still preliminary, new data from the Common App suggest that applications for college … [+]
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Initial reporting suggests that applications to college may be bouncing back for the current (2021-22) admissions cycle compared to the last two years. The new data come from a report by the Common Application, and they cover applications for next year to four-year institutions that were received through November 16, 2021.
Because the Covid-19 pandemic affected college applications so strongly in the 2020–21 season, the Common App report included comparisons not just to last year but also to the more typical 2019-20 admissions cycle.
According to the report, through November 16, 2021, 780,024 distinct applicants had applied to 853 colleges that use the Common App, an increase of 13% over 2019–20 (687,812). Through that same date, application volume (which counts the multiple applications made by most students) was up 22% from 2019–20 (2,534,127) to 2021–22 (3,089,107)
An additional bit of good news was an increase in application activity among first-generation and fee waiver-receiving applicants. Through November 16 of last year, totals for these applicant groups had declined relative to 2019–20. But this year has seen a 22% increase in the number of first-generation applicants relative to 2019–20, with first- generation applicants comprising a larger overall share of the applicant pool (27%) than in any prior season (through November 16).
Nonetheless, about 60% of domestic applicants lived in the most affluent 20% of zip codes nationwide. Applicants from the bottom quintile comprised only about 5% of the applicant pool.
International Applications
The number of international applicants (62,291) was up a dramatic 40% over the 2019–20 total. China, India, Canada, South Korea, and Nigeria were among the leading home countries for international applicants.
Test-optional Applications
This year, the percentage of Common App institutions that required standardized test scores decreased to 5% after dipping to a previous record low of 11% in 2020–21. However, the share of applicants reporting test scores to Common App increased from 49% in 202-21 to 53% this season. The Common App report attributed the increase to “increases in access to testing sites relative to the early months of the pandemic,” but also suggested it could “indicate that applicants are calibrating their application strategies as test-optional policies become more familiar.”
Women were less likely to include test scores with their applications (49%) than were men (59%).
First-generation, Common App fee waiver-receiving, and underrepresented minority (URM) students were among the least likely to report test scores. For example, 44% of URM applicants reported test scores with their applications compared to 56% of non-URM students who did so. Students from lower-income communities were also less likely to report scores than their peers from more affluent communities.
Types of Institutions
Applications to Common App public colleges and universities increased 28% compared to 2019–20, significantly more than the 15% increase reported for private members.
The level of admissions selectivity was strongly associated with growth in application volume for private schools, but not for public institutions. Highly selective members saw over twice the increase (24%) in applications since 2019–20 than more selective (11%) and less selective (6%) institutions. A similar pattern was found in the prior two years, when highly selective institutions were the only subgroup of private colleges that did not experience a decline in applications between 2019–20 and 2020–21.
Implications
This first wave of application data does not assure that the final application numbers will see an increase for next year, but the timing is significant because it captures applications that were largely submitted for early action and early decision deadlines, which are used by many private four-year colleges and universities. On the other hand, the data do not include applications to community colleges, which have sustained the heaviest enrollment losses over the two years of pandemic.
Although the data are preliminary, they do suggest that four-year colleges and universities may be seeing the beginning of a turnaround in the declining admissions numbers they’ve been fighting for the past several years. So far this fall, undergraduate enrollment, including two-year and four-year schools, has dropped 3.5% compared to last year, resulting in a total two-year decline of 7.8% since 2019.
