"As she approached her senior year in high school, the thought of moving on to college was "scary and intimidating" to Milianys Santiago-especially since she would be the first in her family to earn a degree. Once she began working on her applications this fall, though, the experience surprised her. "It hasn't been as stressful as I thought it would be," she said."
"It's not that Santiago's anxiety was misplaced: The college admission process has been so notoriously anxiety-inducing that students and their parents plan for it for years and-if social media is any indication-seem to consider an acceptance as being among the greatest moments of their lives. It's that getting into college is, in fact, becoming easier, with admissions offices trying to lure more applicants from a shrinking pool of 18-year-olds."
Getting into college has become easier as admissions offices compete for students from a shrinking cohort of 18-year-olds. Colleges are simplifying application processes with one-click forms, fee waivers, and preemptive admissions offers while extending recruitment beyond traditional deadlines. Overall acceptance rates have risen to about 60%, up from roughly 50% a decade ago according to federal data and AEI calculations. Increased selectivity remains concentrated at elite institutions, while the majority of universities face enrollment shortfalls and are using aggressive tactics to fill seats and attract more applicants.
Read at Slate Magazine
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