NNHS bucks a nationwide trend

Naperville North saw an 11% increase in college applications this year, according to college career center assistant Carol Krashen.

Over the past two years, the College of DuPage secured its place as the number one school for NNHS graduates. This community college received the greatest number of NNHS graduates to enroll at a single school, according to Krashen.

While an increasing number of graduates attend school locally at COD, Krashen said that the majority now leaves the state of Illinois to pursue higher education at various schools throughout the nation.

“For COD, I would say in the past two years it has increased. [Although], the bigger number in which my admission counselors are shocked is the 53% that leave the state of Illinois,” Krashen said. “Up until then, the majority has been in state.”

While applications from NNHS increased, the LA Times reported that the national pool of applicants decreased by over 6% since the 2010-11 school year. The number of high school graduates across the nation dropped from 3.4 million in 2010-11 to 3.2 million in 2013. The down economy and shrinking pool of applicants have prompted bordering states to launch more aggressive recruitment efforts.
“My admissions counselors have been telling me that the pool is dropping within their state,” Krashen said. “That is why surrounding states are so anxious to talk to us and [give] us the scholarship money that they matriculate.”

While scholarship money remains relatively stagnant, “deals” are on the rise. Universities such as Central Michigan (CMU) offer in-state tuition for students with a 2.75 or higher on a 4.0 scale, and the University of Missouri offers in-state tuition to students who establish residency.

In recent years, two factors made out-of-state students especially appealing, according to CMU admission counselor Krista Casey.

“There is still the same amount of universities and community colleges, and we are all competing for less students,” Casey said. “Because of this, CMU has been trying to recruit out-of-state students a lot more.”

Yet, out-of-state students fill much more than an empty seat. Their stories and experiences enrich the campus.

“CMU has always been known as the campus that’s not very diverse so that’s something that we are really looking at increasing,” Casey said. “The recruitment of students from out-of-state has definitely been a step to increase that diversity.”

Though schools like CMU are trying to increase their applicant pool, highly selective schools such as Harvard and Yale are unlikely to offer more scholarships or deals; the two Ivy Leagues schools announced a record number of applications back in 2012, according to TIME Magazine. These schools will not need to relax their admission standards or offer more substantial financial aid packages to keep enrollment up.

With the exception of highly-selective schools that boast hefty endowments, many out-of-state schools and community colleges will provide deals to attract high school graduates.

Emily Witek is a 2013 grad who benefitted from one of those deals. She chose COD because the college offered her the best deal. She was awarded its Presidential Scholarship, which covers her tuition expenses over the next two years. She also received another scholarship to cover the cost of textbooks.

“I got in to U of I, but Illinois is kind of ridiculous when it comes to tuition,” Witek said. “I just couldn’t afford it. I am paying for my own college so [attending COD] was the most cost efficient thing that I could do.”

Witek’s story mirrors one that many NNHS students face when pursuing an in-state education. Illinois ranks fifth in the nation for the most expensive in-state tuition and fees at a public four-year institution, according to a recent study conducted by the College Board. Nationally, the average in-state tuition and fees total $8,893, but the University of Illinois exceeds this figure by more than $6,000.

Witek plans to transfer to U of I after she completes her two years at COD. The other 100 NNHS graduates who enrolled at COD in 2013 may also follow a similar, less costly path.

“I will be [at the University of Illinois] for two years,” Witek said. “Maybe even one-and-half years if I spend my time right at COD. I’m looking at only being about $13,000 in debt by the time I’m done with school.”