"While it is still too soon to tell if widespread predictions that seniors will flock to lower-cost institutions were accurate, two new surveys and conversations with guidance counselors suggest that the economic situation is indeed playing a large role in students' decisions," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. "A new studentPOLL survey found that the recession has caused one in six collegebound students to change their college plans. The effects were most pronounced among lower-income students: Twenty-nine percent of students from families with household incomes of $40,000 or less said their college plans had changed, compared with 16 percent of those from middle-income families (between $40,000 and $100,000) and 10 percent of high-income families (more than $100,000). The survey, conducted by the College Board and the Art & Science Group, a higher-education consulting firm, was based on the responses of a random national sample of high-school seniors who registered for the SAT. A total of 971 students responded to the survey between February 11 and March 3."