AI Makes Its Way Into Higher Education | This Week in Admissions News

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, we look into how different colleges and universities have adopted the use of AI technology and how AI is impacting higher education. Check back next week to see what’s new and noteworthy in university admissions!

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AI Makes Its Way Into Higher Education

AI, particularly in the form of ChatGPT, has sparked a surge of analysis in higher education regarding the potential opportunities and risks associated with these powerful technologies, reports Times Higher Education. While the global conversation primarily revolves around the future impact of AI, universities and students both are already making use of it in various areas.

ChatGPT's advanced conversational abilities have significantly improved interactions in student support services. Chatbots are being used to provide personal support, counseling, and tutoring, offering students access to round-the-clock guidance.

AI tools have revolutionized the way researchers conduct literature searches. New products like Connected Papers, Inciteful, LitMaps, and ResearchRabbit provide user-friendly visualizations of papers related to specific search terms. These tools offer assistance in identifying influential papers and visualizing citation networks.

Besides research, universities have also started using AI to help with the admissions process, as reported by Inside Higher Ed. Maryville University, a small private college in Missouri, is one of these institutions. Starting in September, the university will be using AI to review applicants' transcripts. Phil Komarny, the chief innovation officer at Maryville, emphasizes that their use of AI goes beyond automating transcript reviews. By leveraging AI, admissions officers can focus their time on other tasks.

This shift represents a broader change in higher education’s approach to AI, moving from "control" to "community" and embracing a data-driven mindset. Universities such as Maryville and many others see the potential of AI in optimizing operations and enhancing overall efficiency.

As a leading voice in the intersecting worlds of education and technology, Crimson aims to promote technological innovation while critically engaging with its development and usage. The new Generative AI policy is an agreement amongst all community members to prioritize transparency, accountability, and academic integrity as we strive to help our students succeed in all of their endeavors.

Other top stories in admissions news this week:

1. In 2022, India sent more students to the United States as compared to the previous year while China sent fewer, according to the Hindustan Times. “The number of students from China and India made Asia the most popular continent of origin. Comparable to the drop from the calendar year 2020 to 2021, China sent fewer students in 2022 compared to 2021 (-24,796), while India sent more students ( 64,300),” US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in its annual report.
2. New York lawmakers are once again pushing for the removal of legacy preferences and early decision admissions in both public and private colleges, according to a report by Higher Ed Dives. The proposed bills would impose penalties on institutions found in violation of the ban, with the fines being redirected to student financial aid. Critics argue that legacy admissions and early decision policies perpetuate inequities in higher education by favoring privileged, predominantly white applicants.
3. Private school pupils who move to state sixth form are up to a third more likely to get accepted into Cambridge, the Daily Telegraph has reported. Students who stayed at private school for GCSE and A-level had an acceptance rate of 19 per cent last year, compared to around 25 per cent for those who moved from a fee paying school to a grammar school or sixth form college. The information is based on a series of Freedom of Information analyses performed by the newspaper for Cambridge, Durham, the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and Queen Mary University of London. Other universities from the Russell Group did not provide data.
4. A new rule proposed by the Biden administration seeks to address college programs that result in high student debt or leave graduates with low earnings, as reported by US News. The goal is to eliminate underperforming programs and ensure that students receive a worthwhile return on their investment in tuition fees. The rule, known as gainful employment, resurrects a policy initiated during the Obama administration but subsequently dismantled by the Trump administration before it could be fully implemented.