Executive MBA Council managing director Maury Kalnitz points to work experience as one of the most critical elements in a typical EMBA student's profile.

CNN: EMBAs: Older, experienced, driven

There have been warnings that the high-profile restrictions on student visas are having an adverse impact on applications.

BBC: University applications 'not recovering' at deadline

That allowed the two researchers not only to gather many more volunteers (560) than would have been possible from the average student body, but also to spread the profile of those volunteers beyond the halls of academe and beyond the age of 21.

ECONOMIST: Exactly when is something perceived as ��not fair��?

At colleges using the Profile aid method, the value of the account is treated as a student asset and is assessed heavily (at 25% a year).

FORBES: Paying for College: Help from Grandparents

If the 529 is controlled by the student, it gets a 5.6% asset hit in Fafsa, 25% in Profile and 5% in Consensus.

FORBES: Paying for College: How the Financial Aid Formulas Work

However, 529 plans that are owned by grandparents are not counted as an asset when a student completes the FAFSA, but they do ask for grandparent-owned 529 assets on the CSS Profile (financial aid form).

FORBES: Bad College Advice - Don't Save in Your Child's Name

There have been warnings about the impact of the high-profile case of London Metropolitan University being barred from recruiting overseas students - and concerns about difficulties over student visas.

BBC: University applications down by 8%