NYU Drops from Top Dream School to Dream Safety

For three years straight, NYU has dominated the annual Princeton Review "College Hopes and Worries" survey, coming in as the #1 “dream school” for college-bound students. But now NYU’s reign of dreams has turned into a humiliating nightmare, as the 2008 survey shows the university plummeting to the #4 slot, bested by Harvard, Stanford and Princeton.

Columbia University also took a hit, dropping down two slots from last year to #7. Is attending college in New York so over in this post-Sex and the City era?

Princeton Review attributes Harvard's #1 ranking to the school’s reformed financial-aid program, which covers some or all of the tuition costs for talented students from low-income families. NYU tuition, on the other hand, still requires deep pockets or debt for all, and as the university relentlessly expands throughout downtown Manhattan, costs have skyrocketed. It seems the university is increasingly pricing out the less well-heeled dreamers, and according to the Princeton Review, 84% of the 8,776 college applicants surveyed said that financial aid will be "very necessary" for them.

Photo: Rob Hoey

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By John Del Signore in News on March 28, 2008 2:50 PM

Comments [rss]

west side Michael

They became to Big and they pay most of their part

time teachers diddly squat,I once taught there in

the TSOTA.

bklynd

Eh, if I was from some other state, had shitloads of money to spend, didn't care much about academic quality, and wanted a fun, urban college experience, NYU would totally be my choice.

Ultimately, the current landscape of higher education seems insane, with the majority of applicants aspiring to the same 5% of schools.

GOP

NYU was a safety school until Felicity came on the air. It should go back to being a safety school when non-NYers realize they will working next to non-white people at Dean & Deluca's.

Kojak

NYU is swallowing the community whole. They should focus less on expansion and more on quality.

Given the massive size of the school, and its relatively 'small' endowment, it can't do much about helping students with Financial Aid, even though $2 Billion is definitely nothing to sneeze at.

Harvard on the other hand, has DOUGH.