College admissions is highly complex and nuanced to the characteristics, missions, resources, and constraints of each individual college and university. Admissions officers of the mid-19th century had an easy job in determining which students were accepted into the university. So how did the college admissions process turn into the lengthy, complex system it is today? Here are a few key informational points over the past 150 years that help better illustrate the admissions evolution.
Colonial Era – 1860
At the beginning of higher education admissions into colleges and universities was reserved almost entirely for the elite class, mainly sons of wealthy merchants. Most students would apply to local schools associated with their faith or community (Thelin, 2011). Admissions requirements were based off the completion
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With court cases such as Brown v. Board of Education, UC Regents v. Bakke, and Title IX taking effect diversity in higher education reaches some of its highest levels (Karabel, 2005). Analytics also becomes important and admissions departments begin considering increased marketing strategies to attract students to their institutions. Reaching the early 2000s, colleges and universities begin to deal with greater competition and scrutiny. With the increasing number and increasing diversity of applicants, schools need to do everything they can to attract students to their institutions. Now students are using the Common Application as well as using online applications, which has earned them the nickname of the “stealth” applicants (Thelin, 2011). As more court rulings and public referenda come down on institutions of higher education, there is pressure to continually change and adapt best practices. In the next section I will explore current trends and historical impacts based off four interviews I held with professionals in the admissions