Elon big decline in enrollment

[Anonymous]

Maybe they need to lean in to Elon and reach out to him for billions and he can direct the school in his liking. Don’t have to spend any money changing the name!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For class of 2029. Thoughts?

https://www.elonnewsnetwork.com/article/2025/08/elon-university-class-of-2029-enrollment-decreases-11-6

The whole U.S. student market is going towards the direction of either you go to a T50 national university, or a T20 LAC, or you don’t go at all.

So silly. My older DC is headed to an Ivy this fall, but my younger one (rising junior) who does not have the same stats will be going to a SUNY. While I have high hopes he can make it into Binghamton, if not, he'll go to one of the others. Tuition is under 10k. Of course it's worth it for him to get a college degree!

I don’t think it’s top 50…but call it top 100ish.

SUNY Binghamton and Stonybrook are top 75 schools…so you are actually basically supporting PP.

[Anonymous]

how many people actually read the article?

[Anonymous]

As of this past application cycle, Elon's merit awards top out at around $23,500 for the best kids (about 60 total per entering class), and most kids will get no more than $17,500 I think. Other nearby schools that get similar applicants, like Furman, Wofford, Sewanee, etc. were offering similar kids merit amounts around $35,000 or so. While those schools do cost a little bit more, their cost of attendance for the brighter kids with no financial need is going to be lower than Elon's most of the time. Perhaps Elon needs to up their merit for the best applicants (to the extent they financially are able to do so)? Though it was interesting to read that a previous poster noted that Furman's enrollment is down, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As of this past application cycle, Elon's merit awards top out at around $23,500 for the best kids (about 60 total per entering class), and most kids will get no more than $17,500 I think. Other nearby schools that get similar applicants, like Furman, Wofford, Sewanee, etc. were offering similar kids merit amounts around $35,000 or so. While those schools do cost a little bit more, their cost of attendance for the brighter kids with no financial need is going to be lower than Elon's most of the time. Perhaps Elon needs to up their merit for the best applicants (to the extent they financially are able to do so)? Though it was interesting to read that a previous poster noted that Furman's enrollment is down, too.

Elon has a lower starting cost by design. Mine got scholarships at both and they were literally within $500 of each other.

[Anonymous]

Unrelated but related. I prefer less raised prices with guaranteed scholarships for most as a “feel good” move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Although Elon's rationale for the drop in enrollment lacks credibility, I don't think we can jump to conclusions about the real cause for the drop. While not a perfect comp to Elon, Furman had a similar drop. First year enrollment for the class of 2029 at Furman is 557 vs 616 for the class of 2028, a 10.6% drop. As class profiles get posted at moderately selective colleges, it will be interesting to see which schools dropped and any trends among those colleges with bigger declines.

My kid loved Furman. We don't love the price. We have told him, he needs to get in and get enough aid to make it reasonable.

That is a shame about the enrollment drop. The size, bigger than some liberal arts colleges, was appealing to my son.

[Anonymous]

Elon was one of my top choices for my kid who decided to go to CNU instead. I don't think there is anything she isn't getting at CNU that Elon promised-except a much higher price tag. It's a gorgeous schoolthough but the location is tough for a student looking for diversity. I figured something was up when they sent her a "please consider transferring" postcard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Elon was one of my top choices for my kid who decided to go to CNU instead. I don't think there is anything she isn't getting at CNU that Elon promised-except a much higher price tag. It's a gorgeous schoolthough but the location is tough for a student looking for diversity. I figured something was up when they sent her a "please consider transferring" postcard.

Wow. That’s cringy and possibly unethical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Elon was one of my top choices for my kid who decided to go to CNU instead. I don't think there is anything she isn't getting at CNU that Elon promised-except a much higher price tag. It's a gorgeous schoolthough but the location is tough for a student looking for diversity. I figured something was up when they sent her a "please consider transferring" postcard.

Wow. That’s cringy and possibly unethical.

My kid got one of those from several schools. In what sense do you think it is unethical?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Elon was one of my top choices for my kid who decided to go to CNU instead. I don't think there is anything she isn't getting at CNU that Elon promised-except a much higher price tag. It's a gorgeous schoolthough but the location is tough for a student looking for diversity. I figured something was up when they sent her a "please consider transferring" postcard.

Wow. That’s cringy and possibly unethical.

My kid got one of those from several schools. In what sense do you think it is unethical?

Name the schools. Poaching students is bottom tier desperation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had never heard of it until last year and I definitely recoiled because of the name. I assumed there was a real link to Musk, whose corporate interests are hard to keep track of.

If you haven’t heard of this school since last year, you’ve been living under a rock or have very limited knowledge of colleges.

You aren't living under a rock if you haven't heard of a school that can't get 20,000 applications and accepts 67% of its applicants.

I think that’s their RD acceptance rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Elon was one of my top choices for my kid who decided to go to CNU instead. I don't think there is anything she isn't getting at CNU that Elon promised-except a much higher price tag. It's a gorgeous schoolthough but the location is tough for a student looking for diversity. I figured something was up when they sent her a "please consider transferring" postcard.

Wow. That’s cringy and possibly unethical.

My kid got one of those from several schools. In what sense do you think it is unethical?

Name the schools. Poaching students is bottom tier desperation.

Syracuse

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Elon was one of my top choices for my kid who decided to go to CNU instead. I don't think there is anything she isn't getting at CNU that Elon promised-except a much higher price tag. It's a gorgeous schoolthough but the location is tough for a student looking for diversity. I figured something was up when they sent her a "please consider transferring" postcard.

Wow. That’s cringy and possibly unethical.

My kid got one of those from several schools. In what sense do you think it is unethical?

Name the schools. Poaching students is bottom tier desperation.

Syracuse

Denison actually sent one of these to DS last fall after freshman year has already started. He really liked Denison so he didn’t find it cringy, but he didn’t end up transferring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Elon was one of my top choices for my kid who decided to go to CNU instead. I don't think there is anything she isn't getting at CNU that Elon promised-except a much higher price tag. It's a gorgeous schoolthough but the location is tough for a student looking for diversity. I figured something was up when they sent her a "please consider transferring" postcard.

Wow. That’s cringy and possibly unethical.

DP. My DC got these transfer postcards from SMU and Syracuse.