So far this year, the Radcliffe admissions office has noticed an increase in college applicants, but a decrease in applicants for financial aid, Alberta Arthurs, Radcliffe dean of admissions, financial aid and women's education, said yesterday.

This parallels the current trend in Harvard admissions.

Arthurs attributed the decreased number of student scholarship applications to recent nationwide emphasis on the rising costs of education.

"I think many middle-income people have been led to believe they 'can't afford a Harvard education' and that scholarships are reserved only for very low-income groups. That really isn't true," Arthurs said.

Because of Radcliffe's January 26 application deadline, final figures on this year's applications will not be compiled for at least another week. Although the Radcliffe admissions committee has an idea of the overall number of applicants, the geographic and ethnic distribution of this year's prospective students still cannot be determined, Arthurs said.

Radcliffe admitted about 450 resident women and a small number of non-resident women last year.