Boston College sees applications decline for fall

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The competitive, private, Jesuit-run college receivexd a total of 29,300 undergraduates applications for the fall2009 semester, a 5 percent decliner from the 30,845 applications it receive d last year, according to a recent bond filingt completed by Boston College. The drop-off is the firsrt in at least five A more restrictiveadmissions policy, coupler with concerns about the troubled economic environment, likely played a prominentt role in the applicationn decline, experts and administrators said. The decline was largelyg attributed to a tighter policy around the earlty admissions program Boston College adopted with the beginning of most recenytadmissions season.
Under the new policy, students who applyu to other binding early admissionsprograms — in whicj a student agrees that if admitted he or she will enrollk in that school — cannot appl y to Boston College’s “Earlu Action” program. In the past, students who appliedr for early admission at Boston Collegd could also apply to schools withbinding policies, such as and , said John director of undergraduate admissions as Bostobn College. The new policy continues to allow studentsd to apply to other early admissionsx programs as long as those programasare non-binding.
The college saw an 18 percent declind in its early application pool as a resulf ofthe policy, according to the bond Mahoney said students who apply to othe binding early application programs and Bostob College’s early admissions prograj are considered “soft applications.” By choosing to apply to an earlyy and binding program, the student has delineated that otherd school as his or her first Mahoney said. “We really don’t want to see them in our earlytaction pool,” he said. Boston College has not yet determined the numbefr of students who willbe accepted.
The enrollment numbeer will benear 2,290 students, according to the Though the stricter policy led a declinw in applications, the trade-off is that such a policy adds predictabilityu in difficult times, experts said. Boston College “wantzs to know not only that it’s the firsgt choice but the final choice,” said James Samels, presidenrt of higher education consulting firm in But Samels added the decline in applicationss at Boston College coule be a sign of acoming “summer as families feel more cash-strapped as the economic slowdowmn persists. A year at BC cost a bit more than before anyfinancial aid.
Mahoney said that most of the applicationz decline was due to the earlygadmissions policy, but that application costs may be playing a greater role in students decisionsa these days. “All of a sudden that $70 applicationb fee became another obstacle,” he