College Admissions Amid COVID-19: A Status Update
Five years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic turned our world upside down. As we were all struggling to adapt, high school seniors found themselves facing an unprecedented challenge - choosing a college without ever stepping foot on campus. Eleventh graders were digging into their college search remotely, navigating the virtual landscape of higher education.
In the chaos of those early days, I published an article titled, "Redesigning College Admission: COVID-19, Access and Equity." Angel Pérez, vice president for enrollment and student success at Trinity College, acknowledged the impact the pandemic would have on admission, stating, "COVID-19 is going to force us to think differently about our work. Every aspect of higher education will be disrupted." He believed that this crisis was an opportunity for long-term progress, as we should never let a crisis go to waste.
Fast-forward five years, and it's time to ask - did we seize that opportunity? Were meaningful changes made? Did we move the ball on access and equity in admission? To answer these questions, we reached out to the individuals interviewed for that original article. Here's what they had to share:
Pérez celebrated the fact that higher education, in general, did not let the crisis go to waste. He noted that colleges and universities adapted remarkably, making higher education more accessible. He highlighted the emergence of direct admission programs and the expansion of test-optional policies, which opened doors for countless more students.
Pérez also pointed out that while DEI initiatives are under threat, we must not overlook the progress made during the pandemic. He remarked that this progress transformed admission policies, support services, and opportunities for millions of young people. Organizations like the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) rose to the occasion, setting bold goals and redefining their mission to meet the moment.
Jenny Rickard, president and CEO of Common App, echoed Pérez's sentiments. She recounted how, five years ago, colleges and universities quickly changed their deadlines, moved to test-optional, and turned the entire admissions experience virtual. Common App used its wealth of data to inform colleges and universities, and partners of alarming trends during Covid, like the sudden drop in first-generation applicants applying to college in the fall of 2020. By tapping into Common App's rich data, they were able to identify the most at-risk students and sound the alarm on troubling trends early on.
Rickard went on to explain the initiatives Common App implemented to support students:
- The Direct Admissions Program: Started in 2021 as a small pilot, this program demonstrated that no matter what a student's circumstances, they were worthy and wanted on a college campus.
- The Student Context Inventory: Allows students to think more broadly about their experiences, like spending more than a certain number of hours a week working at a paid job to support their family, engaging in religious practice or study, interpreting or translating for household members, taking care of siblings, and other responsibilities students might have.
Reflecting on the original article, Rick Clark, executive director of enrollment management at Georgia Tech, expressed impressive admiration for the quick response from his colleagues in identifying critical issues and opportunities. He noted that the innovation and access surrounding campus visits were places where higher education made significant strides. The ability for students or families to access high-quality content from colleges about admission, financial aid, and other campus departments remotely is remarkable. Clark concluded by acknowledging the tough times ahead for higher education, but emphasized the necessity of drawing on the recent learnings from the pandemic to navigate those challenges.
Heath Einstein, vice provost for enrollment management at Texas Christian University, agreed, stating that colleges have responded to both the needs and preferences of prospective students. He observed that forced to spend an extended period at home due to the pandemic, many students began preferring in-person activities once more. However, a catalog of resources remains available online for students who prefer or lack the time and resources needed to engage on campus.
Clark stated that colleges should create testing policies based on data that help them select students who will thrive on their campus. He added that shifting back to requiring tests or making them optional has more to do with competition, net tuition revenue, yield, and unwillingness to make independent decisions, rather than data-driven considerations. Clark also highlighted the emergence and proliferation of AI as a step in the right direction for addressing counselor:student ratio gaps.
Clark concluded that the past five years have felt like an eternity, given the constant challenges in higher education and enrollment management. He emphasized the need for collaboration and continued innovation to address issues like the Supreme Court ruling on race-based admission, the fragility of the Department of Education, and the shrinking of the admission funnel both domestically and internationally. Despite these challenges, Clark remained optimistic about the future and the important lessons learned from the pandemic.
Richard Weissbourd, senior lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the faculty director of Making Caring Common, echoed the sentiment of progress and room for improvement. He acknowledged the positive impact of the pandemic in generating new ways of thinking about higher education and new pathways to careers. He also stressed that we still have a long way to go, particularly in creating innovative pathways for colleges to educate more students and reduce reliance on selectivity.
While the college admission profession has responded with thoughtfulness and flexibility to the pandemic, it's clear that there is still room for improvement and missed opportunities to advance a more equitable process. In the spirit of Jerry Lucido, the executive director of the USC Center for Enrollment Research, Policy, and Practice, who asked about finding new ways to evaluate talent and leveling the playing field in the admission system, we must continue to explore innovative ways of evaluating applicants. AI might help in some ways, but it is not the full answer.
We have also failed to increase access to school counselors in many communities. Counseling colleagues report caseloads far beyond what is manageable, while students don't even have a counselor at their school. To invest in young people planning for the future, we need to continue investing in human resources. The redesign of the college admission process demands constant iteration and ideation, as well as a repudiation of the status quo. Here's to hoping it won't take another crisis to spark action.
Enrichment Data:
Over the past five years, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly altered the landscape of college admissions, particularly in terms of access, equity, and innovation:
- Access: The pandemic has led to the adoptions of test-optional policies in many colleges. This shift enables a broader range of students to apply, as those who may not perform well on tests can focus on other strengths. The test-optional policies also led to record numbers of applications at many selective colleges, resulting in lower admission rates but a more diverse student body (Source: [1]).
- Equity: The pandemic has contributed to increased diversity in schools with an enrollment of more underrepresented minorities, first-generation college students, and students eligible for federal Pell Grants. For instance, New York University has seen a substantial rise in underrepresented minorities among admitted students (Source: [1]).
- Innovation: The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of remote learning and digital tools, forcing colleges to innovate in how they engage with applicants and deliver education. This shift has expanded access for students who may not have been able to attend college traditionally (Source: [5]). Additionally, there has been a focus on alternative pathways to higher education, such as vocational training and community colleges, which saw significant increases in transfer enrollment (Source: [2]).
The vice president for enrollment and student success at Trinity College, Angel Pérez, has acknowledged that while DEI initiatives are under threat, the progress made during the pandemic in transforming admission policies, support services, and opportunities for millions of young people should not be overlooked. Common App, in response, implemented the Direct Admissions Program and the Student Context Inventory, aiming to make higher education more accessible and to broaden the focus of student experiences. The college admission profession has responded with thoughtfulness and flexibility to the pandemic, but it's clear that there is still room for improvement and missed opportunities to advance a more equitable process. To invest in young people planning for the future, we need to continue investing in human resources, particularly in school counselors, and repudiate the status quo in the redesign of the college admission process.
