“Your jobs are tough and are getting tougher,” said Inside Higher Ed reporter Scott Jaschik to a packed room at the recent AACRAO SEM Conference, as he presented the results of Feeling the Heat: The 2013 Inside Higher Education Survey of College and University Admissions Directors.
The survey, which was confidential for individuals and institutions, included questions about the following topics: meeting admissions targets; target recruitment strategies: rankings; borrowing; gapping; affirmative action; sexual orientation and gender identity; and how admissions leaders are evaluated by supervisors.
The results were based on responses from 381 admissions deans or others with an equivalent title.
According to the survey, just under 60 percent of admissions directors reported that they had not met their enrollment goals for this fall by May 1. In addition, 29 percent of respondents admitted that they recruited applications, after May 1, who had committed to other colleges.
The survey also called attention to recruitment and financial aid strategies facing scrutiny, such as the increase use of “gapping” (relying on college aid packages that do not meet full financial need) and the growing emphasis on recruitment of out-of-state students.
“These strategies may seem appealing, but they have backlash potential and I think people need to remember that,” said Jaschik.
Pam Horne, of Purdue University, along with Steve Pultz, of the University of San Diego, sat on a panel with Jaschik and provided reactions from their individual campus perspectives.
Horne said she was not surprised by most of the responses but she did call attention to the finding that many institutions are recruiting students after May 1. “Stealing each other’s students after May 1— that one is a concern,” she said.
“In looking at the survey, I became more aware of the contradictions that we deal with everyday,” Pultz said.
Horne added, “The responses between the publics and privates are converging.”
Panelists discussed topics ranging from the transparency of net price calculators to competition among institutions to affirmative action.
The survey was conducted by Gallup and based on questions developed from Inside Higher Education. Inside Higher Education plans to develop a future survey that will include questions about the impact of the college completion agenda admissions and students.