Decision day has come and gone for high school seniors starting college in the fall. But hundreds of tuition dependent colleges still have unfilled freshman seats, and are desperately, but quietly, seeking students.
INTRODUCTION
Prompt any high school senior or parent about the competitiveness of college admissions and you are liable to trigger a motherlode of angst and stress. They are not wrong, thanks to digital advances like the Common Application and test optional policies at most institutions, the volume of college applications is surging; according to data from the Common App, a record 7 million applications were submitted in 2022-23 up 30% from 2019-2020. They also report that 17% of high school seniors apply to more than 10 colleges today, compared with only 7% of seniors in 2013. TikTok is awash with perfect GPA and SAT applicants getting rejected from nearly every school they applied to.
In one TikTok with 9,492 likes, a stellar female student with 4.0 GPA and 1500 SAT feels lucky because she got accepted at University of Michigan, despite being denied admission or waitlisted at virtually all of the 14 other colleges she applied to including Harvard, Dartmouth, Cornell, Washington University, Georgia Tech, Northeastern, Johns Hopkins and NYU.
Universities once considered safety schools or even party schools are now routinely posting “Ivy League” admissions rates. This year New York University admitted only 8% of the 120,000 applicants and for the last three years, Tulane University in New Orleans has admitted less than 10% of its applicants.
But while admissions at elite, or top 100 ranked schools, are more competitive than ever, the vast majority of colleges are beginning to feel the economic effects of the so-called enrollment cliff, which according to demographers translates to 10% to 15% fewer college age students starting in 2025. As a result, outside of these top colleges, there exists a tremendous supply demand imbalance that is only going to get worse as the thousands of schools compete for a shrinking supply of 18-to-24 year olds. Luckily each year, after the May 1 decision deadline, hundreds of colleges report to the National Association for College Admissions Counseling that they still have openings in their incoming freshman class, and encourage students to apply.
For students that are getting a late start to the college application game, or who are underwhelmed by their current offers of admission, Forbes put together a list of 43 great U.S.-based colleges that are still accepting applications for the 2023-24 academic year. All of the schools on this list rank on Forbes’ list of America’s Top Colleges, as well as the Princeton Review’s list of the 388 Best Colleges in America.
University of Colorado Boulder, ranked #103 on the Forbes top colleges list, didn’t attract enough suitable students to fill up its nearly 6,000-strong freshman class and is now accepting applicants. Situated in an artsy city in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies, about 30 minutes from Denver, the school has strong chemistry and physics programs (which boasts four Nobel Laureates) but also graduates hundreds of business, psychology and computer science majors each year. Backpackers, climbers and hikers will delight in the numerous dog-friendly nearby trails like Mount Sanitas, with its jaw-dropping vistas. And if you’re into astronomy, its Fiske Planetarium is one of the largest west of the Mississippi.
Despite these and other attractions Alex Zoubok, a high school senior in Somers, N.Y., chose University of Vermont over CU Boulder. “I went back and forth between CU Boulder and University of Vermont and went right down to the last few days before I made my decision,” says Zoubok, who says he applied to 10 schools. “We had gone to visit both Boulder and UVM and both had very strong programs. Ultimately the program at UVM is a little stronger for the wildlife aspect of environmental studies.” Zoubok reports that his other offers included James Madison University, University of Delaware and Endicott College.
If small colleges are more your speed, the New College of Florida—the sunshine state’s public liberal arts honors college—is also seeking students. At New College, students agree to semester-long contracts that require them to pass a certain number of classes to keep their credits, and they receive written evaluations instead of letter grades. The culture at the tiny school is shifting; Florida governor Ron DeSantis recently appointed six conservative board members to the New College’s board of trustees, and his education commissioner has said he’d like to model the school after Hillsdale College, a notoriously conservative and politically active private college in Michigan. (Hampshire College, a tiny school in Amherst, Mass., is capitalizing on the conservative overhaul and offering New College students in good standing admission to Hampshire, as well as a tuition match. Hampshire students also receive written evaluations in lieu of grades, and the college is still seeking students for the upcoming academic year.)
Another small liberal arts college, Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisc., also needs students for its 2027 class. The university is known for its excellent music conservatory, boasts a 9-to-1 students to faculty ratio and operates on a trimester system. Goucher College in Baltimore, Md., initially established in 1885 as a women’s college but co-educational since 1985, has a strong program in education as well as a five-year program with Johns Hopkins for students wanting to pursue a masters in nursing. Austin College in Texas and Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, N.H. are two other small colleges looking for more applicants. For a larger liberal arts and science school, look to the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., with its top ranked Schulze School of Entrepreneurship (named after Best Buy Founder Dick Schulze) and whose alumni include San Diego Padres co-owner Ron Fowler, or Saint Mary’s College of California, whose picturesque 420-acre campus is just 23 miles east of San Francisco.
Looking for a large state university with division one sports? Consider the University of Arizona in Tucson, ranked #131 on the Forbes top colleges list. The desert university just south of the Santa Catalina Mountains has a strong space science program and storied history in American space exploration and research—The Lunar and Planetary laboratory’s OSIRIS-REx mission will soon deliver asteroid samples, the first ever to be returned to Earth. Noam Chomsky, one of the most influential modern linguists, works as a laureate professor in the university’s department of linguistics. The University of Oklahoma, the University of Tulsa, the University of Kentucky and the University of South Dakota are also among the many large public colleges seeking more students for fall enrollment. Creighton University in Nebraska, whose D-1 basketball Bluejays defeated Princeton to get to the elite eight in 2023 March Madness, is also on the seeking students list.
For students who plan to submit additional applications, Bob Massa, co-founder of the consulting firm Enrollment Intelligence Now, offers a bit of advice: “Find out the name of the admissions officer who is responsible for recruiting in your region and reach out to that person, alerting them to your application, telling them why you are applying now and why you think their college would be better for you than the school you would otherwise attend—making sure never to ‘bad-mouth’ the other school,” he says. “Or, if the student got shut out, meaning they didn’t get in anywhere, then be honest and say that. Ask to set up a time when you can visit the campus and meet with the admissions officer. Help them see that you really want to be there.”
One word of caution about applying to colleges past the traditional May 1 deadline. Many colleges have exhausted their financial aid budgets, says Mark Kantrowitz, an author and advisor who specializes in financial aid. “Even need-blind colleges may become need-sensitive when admitting students off of the waiting list,” he says.
Just because a college is still looking for applicants past May 1 doesn’t necessarily mean prospective students have the upper hand. Kantrowitz warns students against becoming overconfident. “Some of these colleges aren’t exactly desperate. Some offer rolling admissions. Others just want to hedge their bets against summer melt. Some have made their numbers, but have excess capacity that could accommodate more students,” he says. “Check the college's acceptance rate and yield. If the acceptance rate is 85% or more and the yield is under 15%, they may be struggling to fill their class.” But, he maintains, if you need additional financial aid, it never hurts to ask.
U.S. COLLEGES
Top U.S. Colleges Still Accepting Applications
A handful of notable international universities are also looking for American students to enroll this fall. International colleges are often cheaper than private and out-of-state tuition in the U.S., though financial aid may not be as generous. The 11 universities on this list rank on Times Higher Education’s list of universities, as well as the U.S. News and World Report’s list of global schools. Included on the list are University of Auckland, New Zealand’s top college, University College in Dublin, Ireland and University of Alberta in Canada.
INTERNATIONAL COLLEGES
Top International Colleges Seeking Students
Note: For all of the universities on this list, tuition and fees vary by program. For specific cost information, visit the university's website.
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