INSIDE HIGHER ED — It’s still early, but data released last week by the Common Application suggest that the 2021–22 admissions year could be much better for many colleges than the last year was. For instance, in 2020–21, many colleges reported “delayed application activity in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.” But the Common App’s examination of the data for 2021–22 “revealed large increases over both the sluggish start to 2020–21 and the more typical start to 2019–20,” according to a report by the Common App on applications through mid-November. “Through November 16, 2021, 780,024 distinct applicants had applied to 853 returning members [colleges], an increase of 13 percent over 2019–20 (687,812). Application volume through November 16, 2021, rose 22 percent from 2019–20 (2,534,127) to 2021–22 (3,089,107), following a slow start in 2020–21 (2,630,879).” The good news is welcome to colleges and universities, where enrollments continued to decline this fall for most institutions, early data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center show. Undergraduate enrollment across the board fell by 3.2 percent this fall, echoing last fall’s 3.4 percent decline. Since fall 2019, undergraduate enrollments have dropped by 6.5 percent.