NRCCUA NEWS!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 5/21/2007

5/21/2007

Building on research demonstrating that children of parents who did not attend college are at a disadvantage when preparing themselves for higher education, the National Center for College and University Admissions (NRCCUA) has initiated a new effort to ensure these young people have additional insight and support in the college admissions process.

That effort will be driven by changes to the Post-Secondary Planning Survey, which NRCCUA has conducted for 35 years as a way to introduce high school students to higher education institutions suited to their abilities and needs. In addition to the current survey questions relating to the potential future interests of students and their preferences the type of post-secondary institution they may be interested in, the survey now gives students the opportunity to note whether or not their parents or guardians attended colleges or universities or pursued other forms of higher education. In its first year, the survey identified more than a quarter-of-a-million potential first-generation U.S. college students.

“Reaching these students early on in the college search process is critical,” said Don Munce, President of NRCCUA. “For many of these students, this is the first time anyone in their family is going through the college search and application process and high schools, colleges and universities and others involved need to be as proactive as possible and provide information that is vital to help them succeed. Knowing that an individual will be a first-generation college student will help us expand post-secondary educational opportunities for this vital group of students that is too often left behind.”

NRCCUA currently works with colleges and universities to provide information about higher education opportunities to students. Being able to reach out to these students is particularly important considering that minorities and first-generation students represent the fastest growing population of potential college applicants.

“How we treat these students at every step of the admissions process, from our first communication with them about considering our colleges, to the final communication in the admission process — be it an offer of admission or a letter of regret — will be a critical moment for these students and their families,” said Arlene Cash, Vice President of Enrollment Management at Spelman College.

“For our institutions to stay viable, it’s inevitable that they will have more first-generation students enrolled during the next decade and beyond. What that enrollment will mean to them and to the rest of your student body will very much depend on how ready colleges and universities are to embrace who they are when they get there,” said Cash.

“For the first time, colleges and universities have the ability to reach this important group of college bound students to provide the level of help we know they need to deal with the college search and application process,” said Munce. “Hopefully, institutions will follow through to help increase the post-secondary education opportunities for first-generation students.”

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NRCCUA - The National Research Center for College & University Admissions (NRCCUA) is a non-profit education research organization based in Lee’s Summit, Mo. For over 35 years, NRCCUA has conducted the largest nationwide survey of high school students, which serves as a communications link between college-bound high school students and public and private colleges and universities. For more information, visit www.nrccua.org.