Institutions of higher education increasingly are asking some applicants to wait until the new year to begin classes rather than starting in the fall semester, according to a story from The New York Times.
The trend, which has been documented by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, largely is due to colleges trying to keep residence halls and classrooms full as many freshmen drop out after their first semester and many other students study abroad during spring semester.
The practice sometimes results in students enrolling in a backup school for one semester, only to abruptly leave for their first-choice schools.