NU No Longer Playing Safety?

When I was an undergrad - not as long ago as my French-acting hairline might suggest - Northeastern was taunted at hockey games with the chant "Safety School". But students who applied to NU as their safety this year may be distraught:

Northeastern said yes to only 39 percent of its 30,000 applicants, compared with 85 percent 12 years ago.

The Globe has the scoop. It doesn't have numbers for rival Boston University, but according to the College Board, BU admitted 57% last year, when NU admitted 45%. Now who's the safety school??

Some of the surge in college applications is due to societal changes and increasing wealth, but a lot is simple demography:

The number of graduating high school seniors in Massachusetts is expected to peak next year at 68,300, roughly 20,000 more than in the mid-1990s, when the boom began.

Wow! That's a huge percentage increase in a state that is growing slower than the U.S. as a whole.

I'm glad I got into college way back when!