ASU deadline not likely to affect students

High school counselors say news that ASU wants to move up its application deadline to March 1 for the coming fall won't likely have a huge impact on their senior class.

That's because many students have already turned in their paperwork.

Among the list of program cuts and department changes proposed Tuesday by Arizona State University was the moving up of the application deadline. The changes are needed, ASU says, to help it address more than $60 million in cuts made by lawmakers this year to help balance the state budget. The university had already cut $28 million last summer.

Anna Cicero, guidance department chairwoman at Mesa's Westwood High School, welcomed the news.

"To me, it's a wonderful thing," she said. At Westwood, counselors encourage students to try to narrow their college choices by the end of their junior year. That way, she said, they can put applications in during the first semester of their senior year.

Plus, to be considered for merit scholarships, ASU asks for applications by Dec. 1.

In the past, ASU has accepted applications through the summer, said Virgil Renzuli, vice president for public affairs.

"We think a majority of people have applied by now," Renzuli said. "A lot of places have much earlier application deadlines than this."

The Arizona Board of Regents must approve all of the changes proposed by ASU before they can take effect. The regents will likely have to meet in a special meeting since the next planned one isn't until March 12.

With the earlier deadline, there could be fewer applicants for fall, helping the university as it deals with department mergers and closures.

ASU generally has a freshmen class between 9,500 and 10,000 students, Renzuli said. Each year has broken a record.

"There's no way to anticipate what next year's class will be," he said, until the university has an idea of how many qualified students have applied and then accepted their admission to ASU.

And unlike other schools, ASU doesn't limit the number of students it will accept.

"We have never done that. We feel there are not enough colleges and universities in metropolitan Phoenix or in Arizona," Renzuli said. "We've been expanding to meet demand."

Bruce Ireland, lead counselor at Chandler High School, said news of the changes at ASU was "the buzz" on Wednesday. But like Westwood counselors, he doesn't expect it to impact Chandler students much.

"At ASU priority deadline for consideration for scholarships is Dec. 1, so probably 90 percent of our kids have it in already," he said.