International applications and first-time enrollments rose at U.S. graduate schools
After two years of declining international applications and relatively flat new international enrollments, U.S graduate schools reported increases in both categories last fall. According to data released by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), the number of first-time enrollments of international students rose 4% on a year-over-year basis, while the number of grad school applications from international students increased by 3%. That’s despite the fact that 123 of 174 CGS member institutions reported that more graduate students had experienced visa delays in the past two years. CGS also reported that students at 21 schools had been denied admission at U.S. ports of entry “due to former employment, social media posts, electronic device searches, or no reason given with an emphasis on Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, and Libya.” China and India provide more international students than any other countries. The number of applications and first-time graduate enrollments from China each rose 3%. Although application volume from India was flat, the number Indian students enrolling for the first-time increased by 1%. Overall, the academic fields with the biggest increases in first-time enrollments were mathematics and computer science (11%) and social and behavioral sciences (11%). Applications and new enrollments at business programs dropped 3% and 2%, respectively. Although graduate engineering programs reported a 2% drop in international applications, they reported a 1% increase in new enrollments.
Source: Council of Graduate Schools
41% of recent college graduates are “underemployed” with a job that requires no degree
Data released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York indicates that one-third of all college graduates — and 41% of those who graduated recently — are currently “underemployed in that they are working in jobs that don’t require a college degree.” Young graduates — defined as those aged 22 through 27 — are also unemployed at a higher rate (3.9%) than members of the general population (3.6%). The unemployment rate for those in the same age bracket who don’t have a college degree is 6.5%. Recent graduates of mass media programs have the highest unemployment rate (7.8%) compared with those who studied in other fields; recent criminal justice graduates have the highest underemployment rate (73.2%).
Source: Inside Higher Ed
NACAC rule changes prompt schools to consider more aggressive recruiting tactics
Recent changes to National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) recruiting guidelines that will allow colleges “to recruit students who have already committed to other institutions, offer incentives for early decision and market to students enrolled at other four-year colleges” have already inspired many schools to anticipate using more aggressive recruiting tactics. According to a survey of more than 150 college admissions leaders, nearly 25% said they will now “consider going after students who have already committed to another institution.” Approximately one-third said they will pursue students currently enrolled at other four-year institutions. More than half (54%) of “very small” schools said they may recruit already-committed students, compared with 15% of “large” institutions.
Source: Education Dive
Regions with few colleges are seen as “prime hunting ground for for-profit institutions”
Thirty-eight percent of U.S. residents live in zip codes with “access to very few or no higher education institutions,” which means they would need to commute at least 45 minutes to attend a college or university. Potential students in the Rocky Mountain and Plains regions have the most limited “physical access to public higher education institutions.” Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming, in particular, are considered to have “higher education institution monopolies” because of the scarcity of options available to students in those states. The authors of a recent report on so-called “education deserts” said they are “prime hunting ground for for-profit institutions, just as they are known to draw disproportionately from populations historically excluded from traditional higher ed on the basis of race and class.”
Source: Yahoo! Finance