Yield in

college admissions University admission or college admission is the process through which students enter tertiary education at universities and colleges. Systems vary widely from country to country, and sometimes from institution to institution. In many countries, ...

is the percent of students who choose to enroll in a particular college or university after having been offered admission. It is calculated by dividing the number of students who choose to enroll at a school in a given year, which is often based on their decision to pay a deposit, by the total number of offers of acceptance sent. A higher yield indicates greater interest in enrolling at a particular school of higher education. The yield rate is usually calculated once per year based on admissions statistics. As a statistical measure, it has been used by college ratings services as a measure of selectivity, such that a higher yield rate is a sign of a more selective college. For example, the yield rate for

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

was 69% in 2016, while the yield rate for Dartmouth was 55%, and the yield rate for

Colorado College Colorado College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory. The college enrolls approxi ...

was 37%. The yield rate has been sometimes criticized for being subject to manipulation by college admissions staffs; in 2001, a report in the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' by reporter Daniel Golden suggested that some college admissions departments reject or

wait list Wait list, in university and college admissions, is a term used in the United States and other countries to describe a situation in which a college or university has not formally accepted a particular student for admission, but at the same tim ...

well-qualified applicants on the assumption that they will not enroll, as a way to boost the college's overall yield rate; according to the report, these actions are part of an effort to improve a college's scores on the US News college ranking. This practice is known as

yield protection Yield protection, commonly referred to as Tufts syndrome, is an alleged admissions practice in which an academic institution rejects or delays the acceptance of highly qualified students on the grounds that such students are likely to be accepte ...

References

{{Education-stub University and college admissions