Some colleges going farther for students

Colleges in New England and the upper Midwest say they're recruiting in Texas and California as the number of high school graduates decline.

After a decade of growth, the nation's high school graduating class is expected to drop 4.5 percentage points overall by 2014, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

The deepest declines -- as much as 20 percent -- are expected to occur in New England and the upper Midwest states, home to numerous colleges now recruiting students from more populated states and overseas, said Tony Pals, a spokesman with the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

The decline is unlikely to make it easier to get into Harvard, and other prestigious universities, who reject the majority of their applicants, the Times reported, noting students applying to colleges just below the top schools may, however, find it easier to be accepted.