April 1 (Bloomberg) -- Harvard College rejected 93 percent of its applicants for next fall's class, the highest rate in its 372-year history.

Harvard admitted 1,948 of 27,462 applicants, the Cambridge, Massachusetts, school said in a statement today. That's a 5.3 percent drop from a year ago, when the college, the undergraduate arm of Harvard University, admitted 2,058 from a pool of 22,955. Harvard expects about 1,656 of the accepted students to enroll, Dean of Admissions William Fitzsimmons said.

Duke University, Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology all have reported record rejections of applicants as demand exceeds the supply. Princeton University and Harvard eliminated early applications, expanded recruiting for top high-school students and promised to boost financial aid. Harvard accepted fewer students on the theory that a greater percentage than last year will actually enroll.

``It is very important for us to be conservative,'' Fitzsimmons, 63, said in a telephone interview. ``We modeled it in every way you could imagine, and the truth is that the old models, mathematical and otherwise, just don't hold this year.''

MIT, also in Cambridge, admitted fewer than 12 percent of its 13,396 applicants, an all-time low. The school increased its waiting list by 100, to about 700, because of the uncertainty about the number of students who might take spots at other schools.

Admissions Formulas

Stanford, near Palo Alto, California, admitted 9.5 percent, a record low, from its applicant pool of 25,298. Yesterday, Dartmouth College, in Hanover, New Hampshire announced it had received a record number of applications, 16,536, and accepted 2,190.

Duke, in Durham, North Carolina, accepted a record low 19 percent. It had 20,337 candidates, the most ever.

Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, announced today it had accepted 1,892 students, or 8.3 percent, of 22,813 applications. Yale plans to enroll 1,320 students.

Harvard's Fitzsimmons said it has been more than 30 years since Harvard wound up with more students than it could house in its dormitories. Schools use mathematical formulas to project how many students out of all those accepted will actually attend. Harvard has less confidence in the formulas this year, Fitzsimmons said.

``All I can say is there isn't any way one could tell what is going to happen,'' Fitzsimmons said. He wouldn't say what happens if more than 1,656 students decide to come to Harvard. ``We'll cross that bridge when we come to it,'' he said.

More Students

More U.S. high school students are applying to college than ever and they are applying to more colleges, said Robert Franek, 36, vice president and publisher at Princeton Review Inc., the New York producer of test-preparation and college-review guides.

Ten years ago students applied to four to six colleges. Today, the average student applies to nine to 11 schools, Franek said.

``Just the sheer number of students applying this year -- we knew it was going to be a tough year,'' said Katherine Cohen, chief executive officer of IvyWise, a New York-based private admissions consultant. ``I know my students submitted more applications than in years past.''

Cohen said the decision by Harvard, Princeton and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville to eliminate early decision fueled an increase in applications.

Hedging Bets

Students who would have normally applied to one of the elite schools in November didn't have that option, she said. So, those students had to hedge bets against getting into Harvard or Princeton by applying to other schools.

``There was that uncertainty,'' Cohen said. ``They wanted to make sure their bases were covered.''

The decision to eliminate early applications has meant that Harvard had to process all of its applications at the same time. In past years, many of the best students could apply early and then give the school an indication on who might be coming.

Adding to Harvard's allure is expanded financial-aid. Harvard, with the largest collegiate endowment of $34.9 billion, is increasing its need-based financial aid next academic year by 21 percent, to $125 million.

Harvard said last month it would raise undergraduate tuition and fees by 3.5 percent, to $47,215.

Harvard previously eliminated financial contributions from students whose parents earn less than $60,000 a year. In December, the school introduced a sliding payment scale for the next academic year. Households earning from $120,000 to $180,000 will pay 10 percent of their income toward Harvard's costs. Those making from $120,000 to $60,000 will pay decreasing percentages.

At Yale, families with annual incomes under $120,000 will pay 50 percent less, starting in 2008-2009. Parents earning less than $60,000 won't need to pay at all, the school said. Yale also plans to peg its 2008-09 tuition increase to inflation.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net; Matthew Keenan in Boston at mkeenan6@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 1, 2008 16:03 EDT