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The world of college admissions is ever-changing and for students with top university ambitions, it’s important to stay up-to-date on the latest developments. This week more details emerged on the rise in minority applicants for the Common Application in the United States - the numbers are up 138% over the last eight years. Check back next week to see what’s new and noteworthy in university admissions!
The number of minority applicants has risen by 131% over the last eight years for the Common Application in the United States, according to Inside Higher Ed. The overall growth of applications over the same period increased by 72%. The number of underrepresented minority applicants reached 337,904 over the last eight years - of these Black applicants were up 138% and Latino applicants were up 129%.
In the last 10 years, the Common App has changed some policies to make the application more inclusive. In 1975, the Common App was created among a small group of liberal arts colleges and now has more than 1,000 member institutions, adding many flagship institutions (and other public universities), as well as historically Black colleges. In 2014, it changed its rules so a college can be a member even if it admits students solely on their grades and test scores, as some historically Black colleges do.
“Common App has transformed its membership over the past decade, as we have detailed in previous research,” the organization said in a recently published report. “Our analyses indicate that this transformation is very closely associated with a dramatic shift in the population of students using the platform. In addition to its efforts to reduce complexity and burden in the application process, and to pilot various interventions to eliminate barriers in the application process, Common App considers its membership expansion strategy central to its mission to expand access and equity in college admissions.”
President and CEO of Common App, Jenny Rickard, believes the increase can be attributed to the move by some Common App members away from holistic admissions. Data analysts at Common App say there is no one reason for the increase in numbers and a number of policy changes have helped more minorities apply. The uptick is also good news for colleges as they will have access to applicants who historically might have only applied to one university.
The report further revealed a general increase in applicants. White applicants reached 569,836 (up 48%); Asian applicants hit 115,453 (up 71%); first-generation students were up 90% compared to continuing-generation students (up 65%). There was a greater growth among those who requested fee waivers (up 110%) than those who didn’t (up 63%). Further, the Common App saw the most growth in the more racially diverse Southern states (up 169%) and the least growth in New England (up only 8%).