As reported in LA Times today the results for UCLA’s 43rd annual “American Freshman” survey are in. Surveyed were 240, 580 freshmen at 340 four-year colleges and universities. 43% of students viewed financial aid as very important or essential to their choice of a college. That figure was up from 39.7% last year and the highest in the 36 years the question has been asked. 8.5% of the students said their ultimate choice of college was strongly affected by not being offered financial aid by their first-choice campus, the highest such response since the question was first asked 24 years ago. (1984). Note the most recent deep recession was on and around 1991…so the current economy appears to be having a greater impact on post-secondary plans.