Colleges Face Tough Sell to Freshmen, Survey Finds

By ERIC HOOVER

In enrollment decisions, concerns about quality and cost hit 35-year high

Freshmen are more concerned about academic quality and affordability than they have been in decades, according to an annual survey conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Sixty-three percent of students said academic reputation was a very-important factor in selecting a college, an increase of 5.6 percentage points from 2006. Thirty-nine percent