College Admissions During COVID-19

Title: 2020 Survey of Admissions Leaders: A Mess of a Year

Author: Scott Jaschik

Source: Inside Higher Ed

Findings from the Inside Higher Ed Survey of College and University Admissions Directors detail an admissions season unlike any other for colleges across the nation.

The survey of admissions officials, conducted in August, found that the majority of respondents (56 percent) had not filled their incoming classes by July 1, well past the traditional May 1 deadline. Findings from the survey indicate a tumultuous recruitment and admissions season, with continued uncertainty given the ongoing pandemic in the United States.

Among the report’s findings:

• Roughly two-thirds (68 percent) of institutions who adopted test-optional or test-blind admissions policies in response to the pandemic reported they did not expect such standardized testing requirements to be restored. Private institutions (79 percent) were more likely to report this than public institutions (60 percent).

• About six in 10 (62 percent) respondents reported that they would increase their efforts to recruit online students, an increase of 11 percentage points from 2019. This was followed closely by a focus on increasing recruitment efforts of first-generation students (76 percent) and students older than 24 years of age (59 percent), all of which were an 8 percentage point increase when compared with 2019.

• Respondents from private colleges were much more likely to report having a “key role” in shaping campus opening plans, compared with their public counterparts.

To read and download the survey, click here.

—Charles Sanchez