More than 275 colleges still have room for late applicants

Got rejected by every college to which you applied? Did you decide to attend college too late for most traditional deadlines? Or having a change of heart about the school you once loved?

Some help arrived Tuesday in the form of a report showing that more than 275 colleges still have room for new students in the fall and are still accepting applications. The annual College Openings Update from the National Assn. for College Admission Counseling shows that many of those schools will look at applicants for both first-year and transfer status and also have housing and financial aid available.

Most colleges required applications to be sent in by January and set a May 1 deadline for accepted students to send in enrollment deposits. The update list shows that other models and schedules exist.

To be sure, no Ivy League schools or UC campuses are on the list. But it includes such schools as California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles, the University of Arizona, the University of Nevada Las Vegas and the University of Vermont , along with some institutions with not as much name recognition. Most are in the U.S. and a few are in Britain, Canada and other nations.

“This announcement is a ‘win-win’ for all parties, if students need to rethink their admission options,” Joyce E. Smith, chief executive of the college-admissions organization, said in a statement.