Here's the introduction, as it appears on the NACAC site:

College Openings Update 2015

– Options for Qualified Students

My College Confidential colleague, Sally Rubenstone, has posted an informational thread on the CC forum that has drawn some interest. In it, regarding the NACAC list, she notes:

… some colleges have spaces only for transfers and not freshmen … or vice versa. The list also indicates which colleges still have financial aid and housing … and the vast majority do.

There will be additions to the list in the days ahead, so check back often. But if you're interested in any of the places that are already included, don't dawdle!

This Plan-B approach also ties into another previous post of mine: So-Called “No Name" Colleges. In it, I wrote:

So now, let's take this no-name-brand approach to your college search. I received an interesting press release the other day entitled Education Experts' Best Ten Colleges You've Never Heard Of — Why students love these affordable choices for higher education. As I read it, I kept thinking of Walmart vs, Kellogg. There's a real core of truth to this, if you're willing to keep reading.

I'd like to share some of the information from that press release with you here. I do this in an effort to try to expand your thinking about college selection and get you to think beyond name brands. The big schools have large promotional budgets. The colleges that you'll see listed and described below have probably not sent you a shiny viewbook or bombarded your inbox with spammy invitations to apply. But (another big but), you might be able to find within this list a school that can easily meet your educational and budget requirements.

Now you may be getting ahead of me here by anticipating that the NACAC list of colleges with openings still remaining comprises no-name schools, most of which you never heard of. That would be a mistaken assumption. Let's sample the list.

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I encourage those of you still looking for college admission options at this post-May 1 date to study the complete list of schools from which the above samples were selected. You will find some genuine surprises and best-kept secrets among the schools found there.

If I may add a personal note about the so-called hidden-gem/"no-name" institutions, I see the small liberal arts college where I began my higher education career, which ended at Penn State University. Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania was the subject of a very encouraging review recently. I have no active connection with the school and call it out from the NACAC list only to show you the kinds of admission opportunities that still exist today.

Here's an excerpt from that review:

I hope that after reading this post you can tell how much I enjoyed my visit to Lycoming, and how impressed I was by the campus, the people and the future of the institution. Having taught for 19 years at small independent schools, it is not uncommon to work with students who want to find a college that will give them the supportive environment they have experienced in high school and Lycoming is just that kind of college. The close personal relationships between teachers and students is inspiring, and the College's commitment to finding students who will be the best fit for the community is unwavering. Lycoming wants the best students they can get, but it is the kind of place that can bring out the best in solid students who were NOT the best in high school. They will fly prospective students into Williamsport to visit, and the personalized approach to the admissions process may very well turn their heads. Lycoming has excellent programs in art, archaeology (one of few programs that give undergraduates a chance to work in the “Old World" and the “New World") and business to name a few. They have recently won a grant from the Mellon Foundation to facilitate humanities and social science professor/student collaborative research; over the next two years, ten (of eighty total) professors will be supported in building new collaborative projects with their students.

The energy and excitement I saw on campus were contagious. Lycoming may be have just begun their third century but their outlook is that of the upstarts who are in a hurry to make their mark. I strongly encourage any student considering a small liberal arts college to give Lycoming a long look.

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For those of you still searching for a college with open doors, this NACAC list should be the solution you're looking for. Study it carefully, follow up, and enjoy success!

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Be sure to check out all my college-related articles at College Confidential.