Despite changing demographics and the impact of the pandemic, several Philadelphia-area colleges have seen freshman applications surge in the past decade, including four in Delaware County.
Trending enrollment declines regionally have meant closing schools like Cabrini College and the University of the Arts, or mergers, like one between St. Joseph’s University and University of the Sciences, writes Ryan Mulligan for Philadelphia Business Journal.
But more selective colleges continue to do well, according to a Business Journals analysis of U.S. Department of Education data from fall 2014 through fall 2023.
Swarthmore College saw a 158 percent increase in first-year applications, even though it only increased the size of its first-year class by 2 percent.
Haverford College in that same period reported an 83 percent increase in applicants for only a 14 percent increase in its first-year class size.
Neumann University in Aston saw a 114 percent increase in applicants, but an 11 percent decrease in its first-year class size between 2014 and 2023.
Penn State University-Brandywine in Media saw a 108 percent increase in first-year applicants and a 14 percent increase in first-year enrollees.
See the entire list of Philadelphia-area colleges that had the largest increase in applicants and enrollees in the Philadelphia Business Journal.
