Lots of changes in colleges’ admissions.
When it comes to college admissions for the fall, the key word is flexibility.
Some Texas colleges are extending deadlines, hosting virtual tours and freshman orientation in lieu of in-person ones, and reconsidering how they will accept admission applications and test scores as high school counselors face challenges in submitting documents. Others are making SAT and ACT exams optional, while others are still figuring it out.
“I don’t know for how long, but this is an unprecedented event in our lives,” James Steen, vice president of enrollment at Houston Baptist University, said of the novel coronavirus pandemic. “It has caused us to do unprecedented things. … We come up with ideas and new ways of doing things every day.”
College officials are being as accommodating as possible with current and prospective students as they navigate the many effects of the virus.
Actual enrollment is another issue.
Texas Higher Education Commissioner Harrison Keller said it’s hard to predict what will happen during and after the pandemic. Many institutions are expecting a 20 percent or 30 percent decline in summer enrollment projections. But as colleges shift from response to recovery mode and Texas residents attempt to gain new or more skills amid an economic downturn, enrollment for fall is expected to surge.
Higher education institutions will be critical as people attempt to gain new or more skills and credentials, which will help drive up the Texas economy’s recovery, he said.
“Both of those will have pretty dramatic implications for higher educations institutions,” Keller said.
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which Keller leads, continues to work on its initiatives to ensure that Texans who have some college or lack credentials secure a postsecondary education.
“Now, those conversations take on more urgency as much larger numbers of Texans upskill and reskill,” Keller said.
Officials at the Alamo Colleges District, a network of five community colleges in San Antonio, expect spikes in enrollment in health care and information technology fields as the economy recovers.
“We do know that as people are losing their jobs and are furloughed, and as the economy shifts … people are looking for other opportunities,” said Kristi Wyatt, a spokeswoman for the district.
High school seniors and current college students who have plans to move away for college may also be reconsidering the Alamo Colleges as a more affordable option if their financial situation has changed, Wyatt added. The district enrolled about 57,000 students last fall.
Other education officials also believe that there will be significant enrollment growth, particularly in health-care-focused programs and online courses.
“What we anticipate is that students who have been converted to online courses … will begin to expect to be able to take classes online or will be more comfortable online,” said Kyle Scott, vice chancellor of strategic priorities at Lone Star College in Houston. “We’re planning for that shift.”
Lone Star, a community college system, already is working to ensure that there are enough courses and faculty ready come fall for those students interested in online learning or those who are looking to gain more or new skills as the economy shifts and the labor market experiences layoffs or furloughs, Scott said.
“We’re literally troubleshooting things on a daily basis that weren’t even possibilities or on the radar six weeks ago,” said Houston Baptist’s Steen. “In a lot of ways, there’s almost nothing that we’ve done traditionally that hasn’t been altered in some way.”
Colleges and universities have altered their typical ways of doing admissions.
Trinity University has stopped requiring applicants to submit ACT and SAT scores and will do without it for three years to get enough data to consider dropping it permanently.
Texas A&M UniversitySan Antonio is providing online information sessions for prospective students about admissions, financial aid and housing.
Trinity, A&M-San Antonio, the University of Texas at San Antonio, St. Mary’s University and the University of the Incarnate Word all are advertising virtual campus tours, in which interested high school seniors can drag a mouse around to get a 360-degree view of the campus and move from building to building.
UTSA and the University of Houston both have announced that they will continue summer courses online.
All 22 of the University of Houston’s orientation programs, campus visits, tours with student ambassadors and other events have launched virtually or online — with a hybrid of live and prerecorded sessions, said Mardell Maxwell, the school’s executive director of admissions.
The university has extended its admissions deadlines by a month. And its officials have vowed to be flexible with students who might not have the ability to take ACT or SAT exams or meet upcoming payment deadlines.
“We recognize for many families and many students this is a difficult time not only personally but also financially,” Maxwell said. “We want to help them navigate through that.”
The University of Texas at Austin will provide a virtual campus visit for prospective students, create online sessions for students tailored to interests and desired programs, and will arrange phone calls with students and their families in the coming weeks, said Miguel Wasielewski, UT’s executive director of admissions.
At Baylor University, faculty and staff have filmed more than 100 selfie videos to welcome prospective students and will offer an opportunity for a scholarship to students who visit the site.
Baylor will similarly host campus visits, events and virtual appointments with financial aid officers online for high school and prospective students, said Jessica King Gereghty, assistant vice president of undergraduate admissions and enrollment.
Baylor has extended deadlines for transfer students, is accepting high school transcripts from high school counselors in various forms, including screenshots, and will host academic advising online this summer, King Gereghty said.
Rice University, the University of St. Thomas and Texas A&M University have already admitted their students for the fall but will still put new methods in place to accommodate students.
“We’re simply being flexible,” said Joseph Pettibon, vice president for enrollment and academic services at A&M.