This is A Moment in Time
After we wrote our three-part blog series on admissions trends last month, several colleges announced changes that affect students applying in upcoming cycles. Thank you again Meg Joyce for helping me write this newest installment.
Colleges that have added an Early Decision 1 application deadline - University of Florida and Florida State University
Colleges that have added an Early Decision II application deadline - Chapman University
Colleges that have added an Early Action application deadline - Connecticut College, Washington University in St Louis, Dickinson University, and Syracuse University
Colleges that have dropped supplemental essays in the Common App - Tulane University, Washington University in St Louis (1 of 2), University of Georgia, and the University of Miami
Colleges that are no longer asking for the self-reported Courses and Grades section of the Common App- Chapman University
Colleges that are making self-reporting of standardized testing easier - Chapman University (through your portal rather than a screenshot or PDF of your score report)
Colleges that now allow for superscoring of standardized testing - Chapman University
Colleges returning to requiring standardized test scores - Yale University (was previously test-flexible), Columbia College, and Columbia Engineering (for the 2027-2028 cycle)
Colleges that have moved to not requiring the Science section of the ACT - Boston University and Georgetown, which is saying the Science section of the ACT is recommended but not required
While we are seeing colleges like UVA last year and the four colleges in the last month drop supplemental essays, other colleges like the University of Arizona added a 500-word new supplemental essay last year. They say they’re doing this to become more selective - and it’s working. Other colleges remain more committed than ever to their supplemental essays, like the University of Chicago, which is known for its challenging and unique essay prompts. Again, this is a moment in time, and like test requirements disappearing and then reappearing, it’s possible the same thing happens with supplemental essays as colleges realize it will be harder to predict their yield without them.
In the first week of May, the University of Chicago announced it would increase its undergraduate population by about 1,500 to reach 9,000. They’ve been very candid about how the increase in tuition-paying students will bring in more revenue and help them continue to eliminate the deficit they are running. We believe it could potentially be a move to recover from a loss of graduate students.
We suspect this could also be a response to the endowment tax. As a reminder, in 2023, 56 colleges paid about $380 MM in federal taxes on their endowment income. That tax is now changing in two important ways: it’s going from a 1.4% rate to a tiered rate that can go as high as 8%. In addition, who has to pay the tax has changed to include private colleges and universities with endowment assets exceeding $500,000 per student and more than 3,000 tuition-paying students (it used to be just 500 students).
UChicago has many international students, and they do not count toward the endowment per-student number, so adding more students could also be a way for UChicago to reduce, or maybe even eliminate, its endowment tax bill. Currently, they pay a 1.4% endowment tax because they have $500,000- $750,000 in endowment assets per student. This new increase in students could eliminate the tax if they are able to get their endowment below $500,000 per student, or, if they are getting close to the next threshold of $750,000, it could keep them from entering the higher 4% tax bracket. Also interesting, since the legislation excludes international students from the per-student calculation, it could shift wealthy institutions with large international populations toward the higher tax rate or paying the tax, like Cornell, which is currently exempt. We think it’s possible they might decide not to accept as many international students as a result.
If the market keeps booming, endowments will only continue to grow, and we might see more and more schools doing the math and offering more free tuition to students or growing their student bodies to help them decrease, or at least not increase, the endowment assets per student.
Last week, Syracuse University disclosed they “will not meet their undergraduate enrollment target for the upcoming fiscal year. Because undergraduate tuition is the University’s primary source of revenue, the Fall 2026 enrollment shortfall carries real financial consequences—including a budget deficit, something the University has not experienced in quite some time.”
We applaud Syracuse for being transparent about the challenging landscape they, and many colleges, are facing. Syracuse is an amazing university with some signature programs that include a 98% job placement rate in New York. Syracuse does not have an endowment tax concern, but it does have a large international population, and most universities are currently experiencing lower interest and enrollment from international students. Syracuse is also eliminating about 20% of its low or no-enrollment academic programs to more closely align with student demand. As noted in the Chancellor’s message here, Syracuse is committed to making the changes necessary to remain strong, and we have no doubt they will. What we do anticipate is that Syracuse is one of many, and maybe because they are strong, they feel more comfortable being upfront about their current difficulties. Hopefully, their transparency and proactive approach will inspire others and lead to a more successful outcome for all.