The number of students graduating from high school and applying to college was supposed to peak last year, yet we have another record-breaking year for college applications.

Stanford reports a 4-5 percent increase in applications. Yale’s applications are down by less than 1 percent, but applications are up 20 percent at Brown, 19 percent at Princeton, 17 percent at University of Pennsylvania, 5 percent at Harvard and Cornell, and 4 percent at Dartmouth.

Duke received 11 percent more applications this year, and its acceptance rate will likely fall from 18 percent last year to 15 percent this year. Johns Hopkins has received 13 percent more applications, and the acceptance rate is likely to fall from last year’s 27 percent to 17 or 18 percent this year. Applications are up 42 percent at University of Chicago, one of the few elite schools that offers merit scholarships.

Students who are anxious about admission prospects or want to compare financial aid and scholarship offers are applying to more colleges. Concern about the budget cuts at California’s public universities is contributing to the rise in applications around the country. All private colleges and many public schools have received more applications from California this year.

UC is currently overenrolled by 15,000 students, meaning the system gets no funding for those students. Last year UC reduced freshman admission by 2,300 across all campuses, and another 1,500 slots will be cut this year.

Systemwide, University of California applications are up 6 percent. Applications are up 7.7 percent at Santa Barbara and 6.5 percent at Davis, but only 2.3 percent at San Diego.

Cal State applications are up 19 percent overall. More transfer students will be admitted to UC and CSU so that community college students have access to a four-year degree. Of course, getting admitted is only the first hurdle. Cuts in course offerings have made it difficult for students at California’s public institutions to get the classes they need.

It’s not just public institutions that are suffering a loss of revenue in this economy. Charitable contributions to colleges were down 12 percent in 2009. Alumni giving rates fell to 10 percent. All colleges have been affected. Williams College, one of the elite schools that had announced a no-loan financial aid policy in recent years, will go back to including loans in financial aid packages beginning with students who apply next year. I doubt it will be the only one.

But the news isn’t all bad. While public institutions are forced to cut enrollment when they have budget cuts, private colleges that don’t have big endowments depend on tuition and must maintain their enrollment or add students to ensure sufficient revenue to fund their budgets. At colleges that are not super-selective, enrollment managers are concerned about filling seats, and that means students who would not have been admitted two years ago have much better prospects this year, especially if they don’t qualify for financial aid.

Merit scholarships are still going strong. Two of my students have already been awarded $25,000 a year, and many others have received awards in the $10,000 to $15,000 a year range. Private schools need to be competitive with public institutions, and by offering scholarships to students who will still pay more tuition than those with huge financial need, they draw students whose families are able to pay a little more for the benefits of a private college experience.

As more families worry about the quality of the UC and CSU education and the ability of students to graduate from our public universities in four years, merit scholarships are more appealing than ever.

Of course, a scholarship isn’t a reason to choose a school that doesn’t meet your needs, but with careful planning, students can find schools that are both good matches and affordable.

Audrey Kahane, MS, MFA, is a private college admissions counselor in West Hills. She can be reached at (818) 704-7545 or audrey@audreykahane.com.