CAO offers aid for US schools admissions

UNIVERSITY admissions consultancy firm Crimson Education (CE) has launched a financial assistance aid program for Filipino students planning to attend United States universities under its 2024 Crimson Access Opportunity (CAO) scheme.

CE said its 2024 CAO program, which opened for applications on Feb. 1, 2024, is designed to offer exceptionally talented students in the Philippines free access to its admissions assistance into top universities in the US.

The final deadline for application is on April 1, 2024.

“Studying in the most prestigious universities around the world is no easy feat, as reflected in notoriously competitive applications and exceedingly low acceptance rates. This is where Crimson Education comes in with efficient teams of former admissions officers from top universities and consultants who graduated from the top 30 US universities themselves,” CE said in a statement.

The US Embassy in Manila said more Filipino students are studying in the US to pursue high-quality education.

Statista, a Germany-based global data and business intelligence platform, said that with the market for educational support services in the Philippines projected to bring in $7.2 million this year, there is a growing trend of Filipinos turning to educational consultancies to secure their chances of getting into the upper echelons of global universities.

CE said they help students alleviate pressure and stand out amid the cutthroat competition by enhancing their admission profile and increasing their chances of gaining admission nearly four times.

CE Philippines Country Manager Joanne Gao said the consultancy firm strongly believes in a world where educational playing fields are leveled and financial constraints do not hinder deserving students from achieving their academic aspirations.

CAO was launched in 2020 to break down barriers to worldclass university education in the US, “providing underprivileged yet high-achieving students with unparalleled support.”

“We believe that investing in these bright minds enriches their success and supports growing quality talents that can benefit the economy in the long run,” Gao added.

Gao said CAO, which has supported over 250 students across 60 countries, including securing admissions into 23 Ivy League schools since its inception, has also helped students apply for financial support, amounting to $35 million in 2021 and 2022.

She said CAO students will also receive expert guidance from financial aid consultants on elevating their chances of securing scholarships.

CAO has helped students get accepted to top universities like Princeton, Stanford, Columbia, Brown, University of Chicago, University of California-Berkeley, Duke, Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory and Northeastern.

In 2022, CAO students secured four acceptances from the prestigious Harvard University.

On top of their admittance into these elite schools, CAO students have been offered meritbased scholarships, such as the Robertson Scholarship, Duke University Scholars Program and Vanderbilt Chancellor’s Scholarship, to name a few.

For 2023 alone, CAO students achieved remarkable success by securing 11 offers to Ivy League institutions, including three to Stanford, one to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and two to the University of Chicago.

Visit https://www.crimsoneducation.org/ph-en/about-us/crimson-access-opportunity-scholarship/ for more information.