NRCCUA NEWS!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 12/20/2006

12/20/2006

LOS ANGELES – The admission website at Mount St. Mary’s College, Los Angeles, is the best in the country for using the latest technology to guide prospective students through the application process, according to the National Research Center for College & University Admissions (NRCCUA).

The Mount St. Mary’s site (http://www.msmc.la.edu/pages/107.asp) offers prospective students some of the most innovative features available — virtual diaries and blogs from current college students about campus life, instant messaging with admission counselors and live online chat rooms, and the ability to track admission applications online.

The NRCCUA, the leading organization connecting young people and their families with colleges and universities around the country, released its annual rankings of admission websites of more than 3,000 postsecondary institutions in fall 2006 at the start of the college application season. The 8th annual Enrollment Power Index™ (EPI), a research-based analysis, rates how well the functionality and design of college and university websites provide information to potential students to take them from prospect to applicant.

Mount St. Mary’s excelled in all areas studied, according to high school students nationwide who were asked to help rate admission sites. The College prominently displays an admission office link on the College’s home page, provides easy-to-navigate web pages with access to admission materials, and offers multiple ways to contact the admission office.

Mount St. Mary’s has long been a leader in online competition for students, even experimenting with chat rooms as far back as 1999, said Dean Kilgour, the College’s dean of admission. “We feel that if we can make the application process seamless for students, hopefully they will choose us,” he said.

Founded in 1925, Mount St. Mary’s College is the only Catholic college primarily for women in the Western United States. The Mount offers programs in the liberal arts and sciences at two historic campuses: the Doheny campus in downtown Los Angeles and the Chalon Campus atop the Santa Monica Mountains. The College is nationally recognized for its academic programs, its culturally diverse student body, and its focus on preparing the next generation of citizen leaders. In 2006, U.S. News & World Report ranked MSMC among the top 25 regional universities with master’s programs in the West. For more information about Mount St. Mary’s College, go to www.msmc.la.edu.