College and university quality--what it is and how to identify it--is a preoccupation of many prospective college students and their parents, high school counselors, and college admission personnel. Regardless of class, race, and gender, it is no longer enough for a growing number of individuals simply to attend college: matriculating at an…

This paper is a response to Clinton F. Conrad's article, "Beyond the Folklore." Conrad's strategy for assessing undergraduate quality echoes the sentiments espoused by many admission and college counseling professionals over the years at various workshops for students and families that focus on navigating the process. As transcendent as the…

This article presents excerpts of the author's journal that recounts his experiences and the events about surviving the war in Egypt from 1990-1991. The article begins with the August 13th entry in the journal of the year 1990.

This article presents the author's response to "Surviving the War: A College Counselor's Journal" by Philip Clinton. He argues that Clinton's engrossing account of the 1990-91 school year at Cairo American College (CAC) gives individuals wonderful insights into the unusual challenges occasionally encountered by an international counselor. The year…

Sharing information in digital form by using a computer is a growing phenomenon. Many universities are making their applications available on computer. More than one hundred and thirty-six universities have developed computerized applications on their own or through a commercial vendor. Universities developed computerized applications in order to…

From a data and CRM point of view, computers have drastically changed college admission. No longer are the days of 10 people crammed into an office built for one person, looking at a screen with a green blinking key, typing in thousands of characters an hour. Rows and rows of filing cabinets have been reduced, and putting students on hold to go…

The U.S. college admission environment has changed enormously over the last three decades. What have those changes meant for the profession of college admission officers? In this paper, the authors will describe the enormous changes that have taken place in high schools, colleges, and the entrepreneurial admission sector. They will describe how…

When one thinks of seminal publications in college admission, the first piece that comes to mind is B. Alden Thresher's "College Admissions in the Public Interest" (1966). Thresher's work, relevant to this day, is credited with being the foundational document of the admission profession. McDonough and Robertson's 1995 study, commissioned by NACAC,…

Thirty years after the creation of federal student financial aid programs through the Higher Education Act of 1965, the link between moral character and student financial aid programs is once again influencing the public policy debate. A careful look at the debate, though, shows that the nature of concerns has shifted. In the past, the question…

America's moral compass guiding student aid policy is being co-opted by short-sighted, budget-cutting and deficit-reduction policies. This moral compass was threatened, but had "not altogether disappeared" by 1996, according to an article written that year by Thomas A. Flint, then-vice president for financial services at Robert Morris College…

When addressing the best ways to utilize high school visits, education professionals must remember that while student academic preparation, family support and financial aid improve student access to postsecondary education, the adult tutelage provided to students, regarding the requirements for postsecondary success and the process of securing…

NACAC's anniversary is a great time to follow up on an article on high school visits, a topic of ongoing discussion in every admission and guidance office. The article highlights a variety of potential good outcomes that can be derived from collaborative interactions. Sadly, however, admission representatives are apt to be described by the…

While admission to a community college is simple--"apply and you're in!"--the institution itself is quite complex. Community colleges serve several purposes: transfer, vocational, recreational, and remedial. Community colleges see students through many lenses. What should counselors know in order to help their community college-bound students make…

Many things have not changed since Esther Hugo's 2006 article on community colleges. For the most part, "open-door" means just that: "apply and you're in." The lenses community colleges use to see students are still complex; the purposes of community colleges are still many. Students of all ages come for transfer, career and vocational training,…

Stealth applicants who do not flow through the traditional admission funnel now represent nearly one-third of the national applicant pool. This study employs a consumer behavior framework to examine the behaviors of stealth applicants at a private university. The findings provide a rich illustration of how stealth applicants search for college.…