Admission Offices and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act

iStock

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed into law the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

The legislation temporarily updates the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act. It will expire Dec. 31 unless Congress passes additional legislation.

Continue reading Admission Offices and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act

Tool Catalogs Admission-Related Services Offered by Secondary Schools

A new tool from NACAC provides a look at admission-related services offered by secondary schools in the US and around the globe amid the coronavirus pandemic.

With so many schools closed or otherwise disrupted, it’s a challenge for counselors to help students finalize their college plans. NACAC’s new tool shows how different schools and counselors are responding to questions surrounding final course grades, requests for transcripts, and other college admission queries.

The crowdsourced resource is the second of two tools designed by NACAC.

Continue reading Tool Catalogs Admission-Related Services Offered by Secondary Schools

Thoughts from a Former College Admission Officer in the COVID-19 Era

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published by The Education Trust. See the original article.

Amid increased anxiety over a global pandemic, parents and students alike are frantically adjusting to the new reality of school shutdowns, online learning, cancellation of standardized tests, library closings, the postponement of extracurricular activities, and limited travel. Meanwhile, there is a group of students that is eagerly awaiting college admission for fall 2020. How will the COVID-19 pandemic impact the college-going decisions of students, and how should colleges adjust admission criteria accordingly?

In a previous Ed Trust blog, I argued that institutions should, as the Supreme Court currently allows, use race as a factor in college admission, since the measures that most colleges use in their admission criteria (strength of curriculum, standardized test scores, grade point average, and non-academic factors) disadvantage students from low-income backgrounds and students of color. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, the reality is that these same students will likely be disadvantaged by the factors that colleges and universities value in admission.

Continue reading Thoughts from a Former College Admission Officer in the COVID-19 Era

Student Mobility and the OAS

iStock

Strategies to attract and recruit international students were a topic of discussion earlier this month during a seminar hosted in Washington, DC, by the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Coimbra Group of Brazilian Universities (GCUB).

The event brought key higher education leaders together to strengthen existing partnerships in the Americas and highlight new recruitment and exchange possibilities.

Continue reading Student Mobility and the OAS

New NACAC Tool Helps Students Navigate College Admission Process Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

As a service to students and families, NACAC has created a new resource cataloging campus-specific changes in college admission events, deposit dates, and more as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

The purpose of the tool—which features information from postsecondary institutions—is to make it easier for students and others to navigate the admission process during this unprecedented time of upheaval. So far, more than 460 colleges and universities from around the world have submitted their information.

Continue reading New NACAC Tool Helps Students Navigate College Admission Process Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

Survey Shows Coronavirus Has Heavily Impacted Recruitment Efforts in China

iStock

Travel to and from China — the largest source of international students globally — has been heavily restricted since January as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19). To better understand the impact the virus has had on the recruitment efforts of US universities, the Institute of International Education (IIE) conducted a survey on academic student mobility to and from China.

The findings from the survey—Academic Student Mobility to and from China— show that the majority (76 percent) of institutions’ outreach and recruitment efforts to prospective students in China had been affected. Specifically, more than half (51 percent) of responding institutions had cancelled recruitment activities in China.

Continue reading Survey Shows Coronavirus Has Heavily Impacted Recruitment Efforts in China

Register for Our College Signing Day Webinar

iStock

Decision Day is fast approaching. May 1 is the deadline for students to accept an offer of admission at many institutions.

And once again, Reach Higher is encouraging schools and communities to host College Signing Day events in recognition of their students’ hard work.

To help counselors and college advisers prepare, NACAC is partnering with Reach Higher and the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) to offer a College Signing Day webinar.

Continue reading Register for Our College Signing Day Webinar