HIGH LIFE: A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : Ivy League Applicants Taper Off

The long-expected “baby bust” and spiraling tuitions are causing a drop in the number of applications at some Ivy League colleges and other top-flight private schools this year, although most public institutions such as the University of California continue to see increases.

Stanford University, for example, reports a drop of about 6% in applications after a similar decline the year before. At Harvard University, applications are down between 5% and 10%, the first decline in 20 years. Dartmouth College has seen a decline of about 20%, after a big jump last year and then some adverse publicity about political trouble on campus.

“There is clearly a smaller pool of 18-year-olds, and it’s a surprise that we weren’t down prior to this,” Marcia Connolly, Harvard’s associate director of admissions, said last week.

Possibly contributing to the decline is the practice of charging application fees that range as high as $50, causing some students to apply to fewer colleges, admissions officials said.

In addition, expectations may be coming back to earth. In recent years, counselors say, high school seniors have been pressured by parents and society to apply to prestigious colleges even if there was little chance of acceptance. This year’s numbers suggest that is changing.

Even with the decline in applications, admissions officers caution, very selective colleges still will accept fewer than one in three applicants and sometimes fewer than one in seven.

For the UC system, applications are up slightly this year, to 49,134 from 48,335 last year. The relatively low cost of a UC education is probably a factor in the increase. Not including room and board, fees for in-state UC students next year will average $1,577, compared to $13,000 or more at many well-known independent institutions.

Nationally, the number of 18-year-olds has been declining since 1980 and will continue to drop for a few more years. About 2.76 million students graduated from high school last year, and the total is expected to bottom out at 2.44 million in 1992. Then the so-called Echo Generation comes of age--the children of people born during the post-World War II Baby Boom. That is why UC is planning to build as many as three new campuses by the end of the century.

--LARRY GORDON,

Times Education Writer

Los Alamitos High School senior Kathy Fitzer has recently been named winner of the California Youth Services Network Roger Injayan Youth Participation Award.

The award is given to young people who participate in volunteer activities that benefit youth-oriented services and community agencies. Fitzer is president of the Youth Development Project at Casa Youth Shelter in Los Alamitos, a temporary haven for runaway teen-agers and other youths in crisis.

“I base my fashion taste on what doesn’t itch.”

--Gilda Radner