Applying to College Shouldn’t Be So Complicated
A simpler process would boost flagging enrollment and expand opportunities for low-income students.
Put the ivory tower in reach.
Photographer: Joe Buglewicz/Bloomberg
Although college isn’t for everyone, earning a degree still offers a pathway to success for many Americans. Yet each year, hundreds of thousands of low-income, college-ready students never actually enroll, partly because the application process prioritizes administrative busywork over academics. Policymakers should work to make it simpler.
Applying to college typically involves selecting from among hundreds of schools, verifying course requirements, submitting standardized test scores, requesting letters of recommendation and providing household financial data. Most students start the process months, even years, before the deadline for submission. More than 1,000 colleges use the Common App — a template for basic information — but applicants often must submit additional material, such as personal essays, tailored to each school.