Minnesota Sees Strong Growth In Its Direct College Admissions Program
The state of Minnesota is seeing continued growth in its direct admissions program, an initiative that enables high school seniors to be proactively admitted to participating colleges and universities in the state without having to formally apply first.
The program, first recommended by Governor Tim Walz in 2021 and enacted by the Minnesota legislature that same year, is a strategy to boost college access for Minnesota students by streamlining the admissions process and paving a much easier path to starting a college education.
Each fall, students at participating high schools are sent a personalized letter indicating the Minnesota colleges and universities that are offering them proactive admissions based on their academic record. Students can then select the college that fits them best and complete an application knowing they will be accepted. The program also waives application fees, removing one financial barrier for students considering college.
Since the program was first established, participation in direct admissions has grown each year. The first year had 31 participating high schools with 11,931 eligible students. During the upcoming 2025-26 academic year, 245 high schools will participate, reaching more than 37,000 eligible students. That number represents an increase of more than 60 schools over the 2024-25 school year.
'With Direct Admissions, we're removing the anxiety and cost of applying to college,' Minnesota Office of Higher Education Commissioner Dennis Olson said in a news release. 'Our goal is for every student in the state to see themselves as college material, whether that's a bachelor's degree, associate's degree, certificate, or diploma. I am ecstatic to see more high schools joining the program this fall and hope every student at these schools participates in the program.
According to a February, 2025 program report, students who participated in the program have a higher rate of enrolling in a Minnesota college as well as a higher rate of completing the FAFSA, a key indicator for whether a student will begin a college education.
For example, during the 2023-24 school year, 76% of students attending a direct admissions high school filed a FAFSA, compared to a 50% completion rate among all of the state's graduating seniors. In addition, 46% of students at participating high schools enrolled in a Minnesota college after graduation, compared to 28% of non-participating 12th grade students.
Direct admissions has also helped promote college attendance for students who've been historically excluded in higher education.
In 2024-25, 182 high schools participated in the program, enrolling an estimated 31,172 senior students. Almost half of enrolled seniors (43%) at those schools were Black, Indigenous, and/or students of color. Over a third of enrolled seniors (36%) at participating schools were eligible for free and reduced-price meals.
All these populations of students saw higher rates of FAFSA completion and enrollment at a Minnesota college compared to non-participating students with the same demographics.
Idaho was one of the first states to introduce a direct college admissions program, rolling it out in 2015. Initial evaluations show that it yielded an increase in first-time undergraduate enrollments by more than 8% and in-state student enrollments by almost 12%.
Since then, private companies and other states have jumped into the direct admissions business. For example, the Common Application (Common App) piloted a direct admissions program since 2021, offering admission to students who created a Common App account and provided enough academic information but had not yet completed all of their open applications. It has since expanded the program.
Other companies, like Niche, Concourse and SAGE scholars have also entered the market, and an increasing number of colleges have come on board.
How much direct admissions would change the college application landscape has always been unclear. But with colleges and universities facing the upcoming demographic cliff where the number of graduating high school senior will begin a decline expected to last more than a decade, look for more institutions to turn to strategies like it as they attempt to boost their enrollment numbers.
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