The college admissions process has endured some notable changes recently thanks to the rise of AI and the Supreme Court decision ruling on affirmative action. Couple that with higher staff turnover and college recruitment challenges, colleges and universities must be ready to adapt to continue reeling in talented and diverse cohorts of students.
Thankfully, admissions management service Acuity Insights has identified some key trends shaping the landscape this year and some of the best practices to implement. Including feedback from high-ranking enrollment and admissions officers, as well as capturing data from 800,000 students who’ve taken Acuity’s Casper test, the “Higher Education Admissions Trends for 2024” report can help institutions plan for the future accordingly.
“As a company that is deeply engaged with the evolving dynamics of admissions, we’ve seen how quickly and significantly the landscape has shifted over the past few years, starting with the COVID-19 pandemic,” Kelly Dore These, Acuity Insights’s co-founder and vice president of science and innovation, said in a press release. “These shifts have created new and complex challenges for admissions teams across higher education.”
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Increased competition
Acuity Insights suspects that as the pool of available students shrinks, institutions will have to become even more innovative in reaching out to students and gaining their trust enough to enroll. Aside from the impending enrollment cliff, decreased confidence in higher and falling enrollment, the end of affirmative action will also make it much more challenging to attract diverse populations of students.
Admission leaders first suggest amplifying their marketing efforts and communicating them in a way that sets them apart from the pack. One respondent surveyed found it difficult to sufficiently “articulate value to prospects.” Students want to attend a school they feel has their best interest in mind, and much of that can be done with a distinguishable brand that connects seamlessly with students’ values. Consider marking campaigns that lean on social proof; 72% of consumers consider reviews and testimonials more credible than a brand talking about its offerings.
One should also consider partnering with local high schools to create strong dual enrollment pipelines and leverage holistic admissions processes to curate a diverse campus community.
Creating an efficient holistic review process
Holistic admissions have only gained more steam since over 1,900 colleges and universities dropped SAT/ACT requirements following the pandemic. In addition, they help colleges gain insight into students previously invisible from test-taking, such as their situational judgment and soft skills.
As promising as this model seems, it can be difficult to execute. Nearly two-thirds of admissions leaders (62%) interviewed by Acuity Insights found that staff shortages were their team’s top challenge in implementing effective holistic application reviews. In second place, accounting for nearly half of respondents (49%) was the time commitments.
Consider reexamining admission policies regarding personal essays, recommendation letters and how other qualitative questions are phrased. In their place, institutions should explore other admissions assessments.
Mitigating student turnover
Maximizing student retention proved to be admissions leaders’ No.1 priority, ahead of tuition revenue and mission-value alignment. The reason is simple: With a smaller national student pool from which to source, colleges and universities cannot afford to let students, once admitted, leave prematurely.
To find students capable of withstanding the rigor of a college education, institutions need to begin assessing more than their quantitative metrics. Instead, they need to implement assessments to pressure-test their resilience and problem-solving. Furthermore, institutions must curate a diverse campus community that reflects the broader world in which they live so as not to ostracize any minority students.
AI in admissions
Admissions offices have long pursued the strategy of simplifying and automating the admissions process. However, AI’s capabilities add an entirely new dimension. Respondents urged caution when using these tools due to their high propensity for bias.
As a result, colleges must test the data sets from which AI models source their data. AI solutions must undergo training with varied datasets, followed by thorough testing, including pilot programs, to ensure their robustness. This process necessitates extensive input from stakeholders and experts to mitigate unintended issues or errors. To lock these intentions into place, pursue policies that outline the ethical use of AI.
