As college admissions figures are now coming out across the nation, there's been a recent "news kick" over how private colleges that have suffered large blows to their endowments are compensating for deficits. While these colleges are officially sticking to their "need-blind" admissions policies regarding students' ability to pay tuition, the accounting might get a little blurry this year.
In other words, the nation's elite private colleges will return to the good old days, when they accepted students solely on the basis of wealth. (They could also not be female, black, Jewish, or Irish.)
So what does this mean for the incoming class at D.C.'s two big private schools, Georgetown and George Washington? We're not sure how the recession affects George Washington because its student newspaper webpage just has a bunch of irritating fake stories, for April Fool's Day. As for Georgetown, the VERY PROHIBITIVE $51,500 annual cost has not significantly cut down its applicant pool, as it is at many other private universities where the low-income kids won't even bother applying. As with most things, blame Barack Obama:
Georgetown's Charles Deacon, like several other admissions officials in the District, believes financial worries were balanced this year by an "Obama factor" -- young people excited about the new administration and drawn to area schools because they want to be nearby.
In other words, an even insaner amount of rich kids applied to Georgetown because they wanted to be friends with Barack Obama.
So next year will be the most Georgetown-y year in Georgetown's history. The new class of freshmen will all think wearing tuxedos to class is only proper, so as not to look like farmers.
Jim Newell writes need-blind articles for Wonkette and IvyGate.
