How undergraduates seek information is changing as a result of the COVID pandemic. Students traditionally met with admissions counselors at their high schools or college fairs for individual visits. This was not an option for Spring 2020, Fall 2020, or Spring 2021. The campus visit experience has also changed. Students highly value seeing campus in person, and the limitations on capacity for events have been impacted due to the pandemic. Virtual visitation opportunities have not had a high attendance rate for the Fall 2020 semester. Students are also able to seek out information about colleges on their own via college search sites and college and university websites. Students previously met with admissions counselors at high school visits and college fairs and filled out inquiry cards. Fewer students fill out virtual inquiry cards. Additionally, fewer students have had the opportunity to take the SAT or ACT, which affects the name buys that admissions offices utilize in order to grow their inquiry pools. Students who have participated in the limited campus visitations have expressed relief and gratitude that they were able to experience campus in person. Many colleges and universities have not opened in-person visitations as a result of the pandemic. Nearly 250 institutions offer degrees in Pennsylvania. Each institution is, in some form, experiencing the effects of increased competition for declining high school graduates. Kutztown has 53 post-secondary institutions within a 50-mile radius of campus; 11 of those are within a 25-mile radius. Questions for consideration: ❚ Is KU in a position to meet targeted enrollment? ❚ Is KU an attractive option for the region’s high school graduates? Institutions of higher education are both products of and contributors to the economies, environments, and industries that compose the global landscape. In an increasingly connected, transparent, and scrutinizing world, institutions are expected to be wise and judicious stewards of the resources that enable them to exist and operate. They are also expected to contribute something of value to the larger world and to effectively confer the knowledge and skills that people need to work and live—all at a reasonable cost. Absent this perceived value, institutions of higher education in many countries will likely continue to see declines in funding from supporting governments and industries. COMPETITION COST AND AFFORDABILITY
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