College Admissions in COVID-19

By Amanda Sterk, Ed.D

All around us we see the affects of COVID-19 and what it has done to our community. For many high school seniors across the nation, it has some other consequential affects on their college admissions and where the students are planning to go. While college admissions can be a stressful event in any year, the shutdown of schools, standardized testing, college tours, and normal college recruitment activities have made this year’s process even more difficult.

How has college admissions changed?

Many private and public colleges and universities throughout the nation went test optional, a term used when students have the option to submit college entrance exams or not. This was due to the lack of testing options for students as many testing sites were shut down throughout the summer and into early fall. As colleges went test optional, more students began applying for the coveted seats of highly selective schools. Harvard College recently reported a 57% increase in early action college applications for fall 2021, making it the most competitive early admissions season in the school’s history. Other top universities reported similar numbers and reported larger numbers of their class of 2024 who had deferred admissions and elected to take a gap year.

However, Florida was the only state in the country that still required traditional incoming freshman (fall 2021) to submit SAT or ACT scores for admissions. This is having a significant effect on the Florida State University System (SUS) admissions cycle, with a decrease of applications of around 50% at some universities. For example, University of Central Florida saw applications drop 21%, with 50% fewer students submitting SAT scores compared to last year. Many SUS universities are rolling admissions, meaning applications are reviewed throughout the year.

Fewer students are applying for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) this year. The Florida College Access Network of Florida predicts around $100 million dollars will be left unused because students simply did not apply. From 2018 to 2019, fewer Southwest Florida (SWFL) students filed the FAFSA, which resulted in a loss of over $600,000 for our students.

Recently, the FutureMakers Coalition, a group of educators, business partners, and community leaders, held a Student Voice Summit, which invited local high school students to discuss “real time” perspectives of students to better understand educational barriers. Through the summit, 64% of high school students said they believed the COVID-19 crisis will impact some part of their postsecondary journey, 22% stated it would severely impact their journey, and 14% stated it had no impact.

How to move forward

There still is a great deal of uncertainty for the remaining school year and into next. As parents and students start to look forward, many are reconsidering their options.

Due to the pandemic, many post-secondary institutions have increased the functionality of their websites, including online document submission, orientations, and virtual tours. For example, Florida SouthWestern State College has added new chat features on its website for instant solutions, created new modalities of learning, and created new classroom conversions for its eLearning platforms. These new approaches will allow students to interact on their own time and in their own way. Many colleges may keep these new methods even after in-person college life fully resumes.

Colleges that have gone test optional are evaluating keeping this new admissions policy. This could lead to a more holistic approach to college admissions.

Students are looking into a variety of educational options. For example, Florida has very strong articulation agreements between the state college system and the state university system. General education courses, traditionally taken in the first two years of college, are easily transferable and protected under state law. So, while a student might have had some admissions limitations, transferring between colleges and universities can be a great choice and very cost effective as well.

Lastly, there is quite a bit of money in both scholarships and other financial aid still on the table in SWFL. With applications down for scholarships sponsored by local foundations, students will have a better chance of winning both merit or need-based awards. All our local post-secondary institutions and school districts have created some great tutorials on how to complete the FAFSA as well.

In the end, COVID-19 has led to some new innovative ways to help support and reach students. Parents and students should continue looking at post-secondary options as it is even more imperative in a post-pandemic world to earn a degree or credential.