Admissions in the 21st Century

Improve the school-to-college transition and create greater educational opportunities for all students.

About this Project

Admissions processes and practices are changing, and the transition from high school to college has become an increasingly complicated and confusing process, particularly for students from low-income backgrounds and for first-generation college students. We hope to inspire, inform and call to action the admissions, financial aid and school counseling communities.

Visit the Admissions in the 21st Century website

Our Progress

What We've Accomplished

In Preserving the Dream: A Letter to the Profession, the Task Force on Admissions in the 21st century established a series of action commitments and recommendations that would enhance the ability of admission officers, school counselors and financial aid offers to be better advocates for the students they serve and address the issues facing the school-to-college transition in the country today

Published two significant bodies of research on Complexity in College Admissions (Fact or Urban Myth and The Barriers Between Aspiration and Enrollment for Lower-Income Students and released with the Task Force a special P-20 Data Book with statistical documentation for the analysis and recommendations

The Task Force created a Declaration of Values statement that it hopes will guide the development of the admissions counseling and financial aid community into the future

Identified 10 independent topics for professional development that required attention and created essays on each and a webinar series entitled Learning to Lead: Admissions in the 21st Century

Conducted a Symposium to review progress on the initial recommendations and action commitments of the Task Force and to secure guidance on planning future activities in pursuit of those goals