For the first time in several years, the number of early decision applicants has declined, according to a report by Naviance. Early decision applications declined from 171,103 in 2019 to 121,903 in 2020. Early action applicants declined slightly from 1,107,381 in 2019 to 1,074,346 in 2020. The final figures are expected to go up 5 to 10 percent , reported Inside Higher Ed.
Naviance is a tool tracking high school students’ success in enrolling in higher education. It claims to have half of the largest public school districts and a representative sample of seven million total applications that it tracked last year, noted Inside Higher Ed.
Naviance found that black and Latino applicants are less likely that white and Asian applicants to apply early. Only 10 percent of early applicants this year were black, compared to 15 percent of higher education enrollments, reported Inside Higher Ed. Only 11 percent were Latino, compared to 19 percent of higher education enrollments. Asians made up 16 percent of early applications and are only 8 percent of total students. Whites made up 60 percent of early applications and are 55 percent of students.
Amy Reitz, general manager of Hobsons Intersect program, which includes Naviance, told Inside Higher Ed that it was hard to know why fewer students are applying early decision, but surveys indicate that students are still applying to college—in general—at the same rates.
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Inside Higher Ed
https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2020/02/03/early-decision-numbers-are-down
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