NACAC College Openings Update

We’re so conditioned to seeing college acceptances as a scarcity that the NACAC College Openings Update list showing schools that have openings for freshmen as of May 1 may come as a surprise to some.

The list, put out by the National Association for College Admissions Counseling, is a voluntary listing of member schools that are still accepting admission applications. Generally this results from either low application rates or lower-than-expected yields (the percent of admitted students who accept admission to the school).

This year’s list, which was released today, has 396 schools on it currently, slightly less than last year’s 414. That number will likely go up as schools finalize enrollment; it has increased by about 1/3 in past years. Participation in the list is voluntary and open to NACAC member schools–  just over half of four-year colleges– so this is by no means an exhaustive list of schools, nor is the data statistically significant.

What might you do with this information? If you’re a high school senior who’s unhappy with the school choices available to you, you might look here for some additional options. If you’re at any other level of high school, you might assume that schools on this list may be offering more generous financial aid packages in coming years to raise application and yield rates.