Colleges Fear Cuts If They Can't Fill the Next Freshman Class
Recruiting isn’t easy when campus tours are canceled.
Senior Jaclyn Wilks used to lead campus tours at Carthage College in Wisconsin. This month she made a video instead.
Source: Samantha Payton/Carthage College
Covid-19 precautions in the U.S. are expected to hit universities’ bottom lines in multiple ways, including in recruiting next year’s freshman class, now that admitted students can’t tour campuses. If colleges can’t fill slots, they could face years of financial trouble.
“I don’t see anyone being immune this fall, or even a year from now, from some of the effects we’re experiencing right now,” said Todd Rinehart, president-elect of the National Association for College Admission Counseling and vice chancellor for enrollment at the University of Denver. “We’d be naive to think that it's suddenly going to be back to normal.”