Top colleges are still seeing very high admissions yields*. Schools specifically mentioned by the NY Times included Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Wesleyan, Smith, Kenyon and Whitman. Read the full story at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/education/11college.html?hp
My take? Harvard and Yale still see yields in the 70%+ range, while Princeton is in the 60% range. This is remarkable in the declining economy, but only until you realize that these schools are increasing their financial aid budgets in order to keep their financial aid promises. Upon realizing that, it’s clear that we’re not seeing more thinly distributed aid; instead, we’re just seeing more aid at the same ‘density’. This is an extraordinary commitment by these schools to financial aid.
* = “Yield” means the fraction of the admitted students who signal their intent to actually enroll. E.g., if 2000 people are admitted and 1000 decide to attend, the yield is 50%.
