Direct Admissions—How to Transform Your College Admissions Pipeline

As a college admissions department, your goal is to get students in the door and enrolled into an academic program that best suits their individual goals. The path to accomplishing this, however, can look different for every institution (as well as every unique student). 

With new modern admissions processes increasing in popularity, a tactic like direct admissions might sound appealing. This process involves giving students a direct—and often immediate—invitation to attend. Some schools are finding success with this strategy because it heads off enrollment gaps and boosts student application numbers. 

If your school is weighing the pros and cons of a direct admissions strategy, this post is for you. We’ll cover basic definitions and share the advantages so that you can equip admissions teams with all possible scenarios.

What is Direct Admissions?

Direct admissions is the process of extending an admissions offer to incoming college students based on a simplified application or test score evaluation. This shortened process eliminates some of the extra steps often required, such a series of essays or interviews.

At some colleges and universities, direct admissions may also look like accepting students into a general education program instantly, but reserving their participation in more in-depth academic courses until sophomore year. For example, a pre-med student might be accepted directly into a general education program but still have a more tailored application process to complete before they can begin pre-med coursework. 

Comparing a Direct Admission to an "Indirect" Enrollment

An indirect admissions process is typically more drawn out, with a longer timeline and path to entry. Current high school students might apply several terms early, retake test scores (like the ACT and SAT), submit required college essays, or even meet one-on-one with college personnel. For highly competitive schools, developing a relationship with students could be more advantageous to ensuring their success.

But for schools with large enrollment needs, participating in application programs like the Common Application provides a natural bridge to direct admissions, especially for participating high schools. 

Admissions Director Jordanna Maziarz of Montclair State University in New Jersey reports, “We’re expecting a population cliff. In order to maintain, we need to achieve a larger market share.” In turning to direct admissions, schools that need to maintain numbers, especially for lower-served student populations, have a way to keep the wheels turning.

Creative Ways to Apply a Direct Admission Program to High School Students

Colleges and universities around the United States are turning to different methods for implementing a direct admissions model. In some cases, the use of direct admissions is part of a state-wide initiative to make higher education more accessible to students of all different backgrounds, particularly in their first year of a new program. 

This is the case in Minnesota, which has seen a significant uptick in the number of enrollments from direct admissions. In fact, the state’s Direct Admissions Pilot Program is designed “to make sure all high school students know that they have college options. Through Direct Admissions […] everyone will get a personalized list of colleges and universities that are committed to admitting them.”

In this example, the Minnesota Office of Higher Education leverages direct admissions to connect students with colleges and universities that could be a suitable match. This strategy eliminates some of the doubt for students about whether or not they’ll have higher education options available to them.

Benefits of a Direct Admissions Model 

A direct admissions model can be advantageous for students and higher education institutions. The perks are two-sided and worth considering as colleges move into a new era of enrollments and admissions processes. Some of the benefits for extending direct admissions offers to students include:

• Reaching diverse populations – Students from lower socioeconomic or minority backgrounds may have more difficulty completing rigorous admissions processes. A direct approach (like in Minnesota) provides these students with immediate options and encourages them to move forward with confidence.
  
  
• Bridging the gap for declining enrollments – State institutions are now faced with enrollment numbers that ebb and flow based on high school student populations. States that incorporate direct admissions are witnessing a greater percentage of enrollments for upcoming academic terms. 
  
  
• Enrolling high-priority students more quickly – Many schools have lists of top-tier recruits and new students that they want to see attend. Giving these types of students quick, immediate responses can encourage them to commit faster. For schools that are competing with other offers or institutions, direct admissions may eliminate some of that outside competition.
  
  
• Filling the admissions pipeline for specialized programs – Extending immediate admissions decisions to more students fills the pipeline for more specialized academic programs later on. For schools that have additional admissions steps after sophomore year (to achieve entry into programs like nursing or pre-law), more freshman admissions leads to an expanded pool the following year.   

How to Make a Direct Admissions Strategy Successful

As with any other strategy, a new admissions process always requires buy-in at every level. To make direct admissions a success, inform the right leadership, in addition to recruiting and enrollment staff members. Provide adequate clarifications and boundaries for how and when direct admissions will be applied.

Additionally, it’s wise to leverage an admissions database or platform like Element451 that offers admissions automation. For example, Element451 engages future students by helping them submit applications quickly, connect with the right staff members, and receive timely reminders and notifications. If you want to encourage direct enrollments, removing possible barriers to entry is one of the best ways to do so.

Take Control of Your Admissions Processes

In today’s educational environment, enrolling more students requires innovation. Direct admissions is a new, creative, and inventive way to think about reaching your target audience. 

By helping students feel confident about the admissions process, you can work to close enrollment gaps and build a better pipeline of incoming students to fill seats in key programs. At the end of the day, this strategy can be highly impactful (and beneficial) for everyone on your campus. 

Schedule an Element451 demo today to learn how you can modernize your school’s enrollment and admissions strategies.