Article

More students may consider BU

Students who might have once chosen a large private city school may be more likely to attend a reasonably priced school in a more rural area that is closer to home
Scott Lipnick - Staff Writer

As the war on terrorism heightens fears initiated by the attacks on Sept. 11, American students are reconsidering their choice of college.

The Wall Street Journal Oct. 5, 2001 reported that: “For many families, the conventional wisdom about choosing a college has been turned on its head. After a decade of pushing hard schools, Americans are showing a new willingness to trade prestige for location, safety and cost.”

Students who might have once chosen a large private city school may be more likely to attend a reasonably priced school in a more rural area that is closer to home. For many New York residents, Binghamton University fits well into those criteria.

“I feel very safe here (in Binghamton),” said Matthew Delaney, a freshman math major. “Many of my close friends that attend schools such as NYU and Fordham express regret about being in New York during our nation’s time of crisis.”

This type of attitude has some forcasting a rise in applications to Binghamton.

“I’ve noticed some parents putting pressure on the kids to not attend schools in the city,” said Charles Riccio, a guidance counselor at Troy High School in Troy. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see the numbers of applications received at schools like Fordham and Wagner go down a bit, while applications received at Binghamton go up a little.”

According to The Wall Street Journal’s report, admissions are up by 15% to 35% from last year at rural institutions like Penn State and the University of Iowa, and attendance at Indiana University recruiting events has doubled. Meanwhile, Boston College and Fordam say they are now worrried that fewer out-of-area students will come because of fears about air travel and more terrorism.

The effects at Binghamton University, Director of Media Relations Katie Ellis said, remain uncertain.

“We had a great response from our open houses. Two thousand people were at our open house last weekend,” Ellis said. “Still, this provides no real indication. It’s still too early in the cycle.”

Admissions representative Kristina Muller of Wagner College, located in Staten Island remained confident that their application base would not decrease despite the school’s proximity to the World Trade Center. “We really haven’t had a decline in visits. Our first open house was the first weekend after the attack, and needless to say attendance was very low; however, since then we have had normal amounts of visitors,” Mueller said.

Mueller agreed that parents may be more concerned than their children.

“On occasion while working in an information booth (at a college fair), the kid will come and ask me questions and the parent would say, ‘no, no, no... no school in the city.’”

As of now, it remains to be seen how much the events of Sept. 11 and biological weapons change student application patterns. Riccio said, “It will be an interesting study to check out next year.”