One Million Common Applications served

The one millionth Common Application has been served.

The big surprise? Use of the Common Application has resulted in no significant increase in the number of colleges students apply to:

While many have feared that the online Common Application would lead to a sharp increase in the number of colleges that students apply to, the average number of colleges of online applicants this year through Common Application is 3.9, a marginal increase from last year’s average of 3.8.

This surprises me, and I'd welcome anyone that can explain what keeps the number of apps stable. It seems to me that especially when considering varying amounts of financial awards that it would be in the student's best interest to increase the number of schools to which they apply...

For the record, we do not use the Common Application at my institution.