A diverse coalition of public and private colleges and universities that includes the University of Vermont is coming together with the goal of improving the college admission application process for all students. The coalition is developing a free platform of online tools to streamline the experience of planning for and applying to college.
In creating the platform, the colleges and universities hope to recast the college admission process from something that is transactional and limited in time into a more engaged, ongoing and educationally reaffirming experience.
They also hope to motivate a stronger college-going mindset among students of all backgrounds, especially those from low-income families or underrepresented groups who have historically had less access to leading colleges and universities.
“We are very enthusiastic about this initiative,” said Stacey Kostell, UVM’s vice president for enrollment management, who played a role in enrolling public universities in the consortium. “We’re hopeful that it can bring more students from diverse backgrounds to college, make the application more meaningful, and take some of the stress and anxiety out the process.”
The Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success currently includes more than 80 public and private universities and colleges across the United States that have made a commitment to make college affordable and accessible for students from diverse backgrounds, and for students to be successful in completing their education.
The coalition, which continues to add members, will be working over the next few months to develop tools and processes that are intended to address many of the barriers that prevent students from attending college or successfully earning a degree.
The online tools — which will include a digital portfolio, a collaboration platform, and an application portal — seek to reshape the process of applying to college as the culmination of students’ development over the course of their high school careers, reducing the unfamiliarity of the application and leveling the playing field for all students.
UVM plans to implement the system for the class that will enroll in the fall of 2018.
Many talented students who should aim for a good school often don't understand the path to get there. For example, research has found that students from disadvantaged backgrounds often do not participate effectively in the college application process, struggle with applying for financial aid, and often do not get awarded all the financial aid they qualify for.
As a result, even the most highly qualified students either do not attend college, attend a college that does not engage their full potential or do not complete their degrees. Attending a high school with a college-going culture greatly increases students’ college success.
The Coalition hopes to address these findings through its free online tools and increased transparency around admissions and financial aid.
Members of the coalition include a diverse group of public universities that have affordable tuition along with need-based financial aid for in-state residents, and private colleges and universities that provide sufficient financial aid to meet the full, demonstrated financial need of every domestic student they admit. Coalition schools graduate at least 70 percent of their students within six years, with many having much higher graduation rates. UVM has a 75 percent six-year graduation rate.
Additional details about the application process enabled by the platform will be announced before summer of 2016. More information can be found at coalitionforcollegeaccess.org.
Coalition member institutions:
Amherst College
Bates College
Bowdoin College
Brown University
Bryn Mawr College
California Institute of Technology
Carleton College
Clemson University
Colby College
Colgate University
College of Holy Cross
College of William & Mary
Colorado College
Columbia University
Connecticut College
Cornell University
Dartmouth College
Davidson College
Duke University
Emory University
Franklin and Marshall College
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
Grinnell College
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Haverford College
Illinois State University
Indiana University, Bloomington
James Madison University
Johns Hopkins University
Miami University, Ohio
Michigan State University
Middlebury College
Mount Holyoke College
North Carolina State University, Raleigh
Northeastern University
Northwestern University
Oberlin College
Ohio State University
Penn State
Pomona College
Princeton University
Purdue University
Reed College
Rice University
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Skidmore College
Smith College
St Olaf College
Stanford University
State University of New York, College at Geneseo
State University of New York, University at Buffalo
Swarthmore College
Texas A&M University
Tufts University
Union College University of Chicago
University of Connecticut
University of Florida
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Maryland, College Park
University of Michigan
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
University of Missouri
University of New Hampshire
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Notre Dame
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pittsburgh
University of Rochester
University of South Carolina
University of Vermont
University of Virginia
University of Washington
Vanderbilt University
Vassar College
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Washington University in St. Louis
Wellesley College
Wesleyan University
Williams College
Yale University