Applications Drop 20% at Cooper Union

Applications were down about 20 percent at Cooper Union this year, as the institution prepared to start charging tuition to undergraduates under a controversial shift in its financial strategy. A statement from the university said that the drop was expected. Cooper Union admitted more students this year than in the past, assuming that its yield (the percentage of accepted applicants who enroll) will drop from 50 to 45 percent. Officials said that they believed the quality of the class was comparable to the quality in previous years.