Category Archives: College Admission in the News

NACAC Member Organization Nets $400,000 to Expand Programming

Students from Chicago Scholars celebrate Team LeBron’s win. Courtesy of Chicago Scholars

Perhaps no one cared more about the outcome of the NBA All-Star Game this past weekend than Chicago Scholars, a NACAC member organization that helps first-generation students navigate the transitions to college, through college, and beyond to a career.

Handpicked by team captain LeBron James, the community-based access organization stood to win up to $500,000 to help students reach their college dreams thanks to the All-Star game’s new format.

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#NACAC19: Beyond Operation Varsity Blues

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Operation Varsity Blues uncovered a complex bribing and cheating scandal within the world of selective college admission.

Although no admission professionals were implicated in the wrongdoing, the scandal’s visibility prompted many discussions among those in the field—conversations that continued last week at NACAC’s 75th National Conference in Louisville.

A panel of nine NACAC members explored the long-term implications for the admission profession and responded to some of the big questions raised in the wake of scandal. The wide-reaching discussion was featured in The Chronicle of Higher Education and was one of the conference’s most well-attended sessions.

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Survey: Only 38 Percent of Americans Believe the College Admission Process is Fair

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In the wake of the recent bribery scandal, Americans want to see change in the college admission process.

But many of the changes they want to see are already common practice.

According to recent surveys conducted by the Higher Education Analytics Center at NORC and the AP-NORC Center, only 38 percent of Americans consider the admission process to be fair and most survey respondents want to see colleges value academics over other factors.

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Spots Still Available for Students at More Than 400 Colleges

More than 400 colleges and universities still have openings, financial aid, and housing available to qualified freshman and/or transfer students for the Fall 2019 semester, according to NACAC’s 32nd Annual College Openings Update.

Both public and private colleges and universities are included on the list.

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Bipartisan Bill Supports College Access for the Incarcerated

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Higher education is often a pathway to finding a job, owning a home, and earning higher wages throughout a person’s lifetime.

But access to higher education for the nation’s prison population has faced significant challenges over the past few decades.

A new bipartisan bill making its way through Congress would restore Pell Grant eligibility for incarcerated individuals, giving many the ability to pay for higher education and workforce training.

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You Already Know This, But…

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The statistics on college acceptance rates don’t lie. They also don’t come as a surprise to people working in the college admission profession.

Although media coverage and parent perceptions can make it seem as though a handful of selective universities are the norm, most US colleges and universities admit a majority of students who apply.

NACAC’s State of College Admission report has proclaimed this for years, but a new study from Pew Research Center is backing it up and pushing its findings into the mainstream.

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Report: State Funding for Higher Ed Only Halfway Recovered from the Great Recession

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The losses of the Great Recession continue to haunt higher education. Despite five years of increases, state funding for higher education has only halfway reached pre-recession levels of funding. And as of 2017, public institutions in more than half of all US states are more reliant on tuition dollars than on public appropriations.

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NACAC Discusses Bribery Scandal in New Podcast

The Phi Beta Kappa Society hosted a special extended episode of their Key Conversations podcast this week all about the bribery scandal.

Fred Lawrence, the secretary and CEO of Phi Beta Kappa, Andrew Flagel, a vice president at the American Association of Colleges and Universities, and David Hawkins, NACAC’s executive director for educational content and policy, spoke about the issues the recent scandal has brought to light.

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NACAC Briefs Congressional Committee After Bribery Scandal

Pictured: David Hawkins, NACAC’s executive director for educational content and policy, Daniel Saracino, retired dean of admission at Notre Dame (IN) and former NACAC president, and Mike Rose, NACAC’s director for government relations.

The recent bribery scandal has captured the attention of the media, the nation, and the US Congress.US Rep. Donna Shalala, a former president of the University of Miami (FL), hosted a Congressional briefing Thursday afternoon. The briefing was intended to inform members of the House Committee on Education and Labor and their staffs about the dynamics that led to the scandal, as well as broader concerns about access and equity in college admission.

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