University of Richmond Waives Application Fee for Alumni Children

A friend of mine who is a U of R  alumnus just forwarded this to me:

Today, we write to announce the Application Fee Waiver for alumni children for the Class of 2014. The University of Richmond encourages applications from sons and daughters of Richmond alumni. Through a new initiative, the Office of Admission is waiving the application fee for children and stepchildren of Spiders. Simply instruct your student to click on the fee waiver button of the Common Application prior to submission to receive the fee waiver.

We hope you will encourage your son or daughter to apply to the University of Richmond, and that you will share this news with your fellow Spiders. The University of Richmond provides a learning environment unlike any other in higher education, offering students an extraordinary combination of the liberal arts with law, business, leadership studies, and continuing education.

Somehow, I can’t help but think there is more to this than meets the eye. Will U of R be seen as more exclusive if they have more applicants and accept fewer? Are they trying to raise the number of students who can pay for the full ride, to offset all the generous scholarships they’ve been offering? Or, perhaps they just love their alumni….