I can hardly believe that July is almost over – weren’t we just celebrating the 4th? This month always feels like the shortest of the year for some reason. That also means August 1st is just days away, one of the most important dates at DCCC as several colleges and platforms like the Common App will officially open their applications. We’ll also see many more colleges releasing their supplemental essay prompts, which means we’ll be working swiftly through those essays before the back-to-school season begins. I’d also encourage families to remember that there is no rush to start uploading materials to Common App the moment it becomes available. Stick to the timelines we’ve provided so we can make sure everything is perfectly polished for submission.
In the meantime, here’s what’s been happening in higher ed:
BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK
DARTMOUTH’S PLANS FOR A SUBTLE EXPANSION
Dartmouth College has started a multi-year planning process to modestly increase its undergraduate enrollment, exploring options to add students, faculty, and the infrastructure needed to support them. While no enrollment target has been announced yet, Dartmouth stressed that it intends to remain the smallest Ivy League institution and that an expansion will be gradual, shaped by faculty and community input. College officials say the goal is to strengthen Dartmouth’s distinctive teacher-scholar model while preserving its close-knit undergraduate experience. For prospective students, this isn’t likely to mean a dramatic increase in available spots anytime soon – rather, it reflects a long-term effort to grow the university without sacrificing what makes it special.
MAJOR IN BEING AN INFLUENCER AT ASU
Arizona State University is now offering a new bachelor’s degree in Content Creation through the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, reflecting the growing influence of the creator economy. Rather than simply teaching students how to become influencers, the program focuses on the business and strategy behind successful digital media: branding, audience analytics, multimedia production, podcasting, marketing, and entrepreneurship. Students will even graduate with a real social media portfolio, having spent a semester developing content and growing an audience on the platform of their choice. And yes, we’re sure a few teenagers just perked up reading that header, “Major in Being an Influencer.” But the reality is that colleges are increasingly recognizing that there are legitimate and teachable professional skills beneath the trends, like digital storytelling, personal branding, and audience engagement – all of which are useful for careers in journalism, marketing, business, entertainment, and beyond.
VANDERBILT WILL REINSTATE STANDARDIZED TESTING REQUIREMENTS
In what feels like a weekly update for the blog at this point, another highly selective university is bringing back standardized testing. This time, it’s Vanderbilt, which has announced that it will reinstate a standardized testing requirement beginning with students applying for Fall 2029 admission. The decision follows an internal review that found SAT and ACT scores provide valuable information alongside grades, course rigor, essays, and the rest of a student’s application. The university emphasized that testing will remain just one part of its holistic review process, but concluded that scores help identify students who are best prepared to thrive academically. Yet another reminder for families with younger students aiming for highly selective colleges to treat the SAT or ACT as an important part of the college admission process. While test-optional admissions aren't disappearing everywhere, the trend among highly selective universities is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
HOWARD STUDENTS UNENROLLED
More than 500 incoming freshmen at Howard University were more than disappointed to discover that they were unenrolled just days before they would have been moving onto campus. Howard cited missed tuition, payment plan, or financial aid reporting deadlines as the reason. Many affected students say that they had pending scholarships or financial aid that had not yet been reflected in their accounts, and many have criticized the university’s handling of the situation. In response, Howard has said it is reviewing disputed cases individually, and some students have already had their enrollment reinstated while those reviews continue. This situation is a pretty stark reminder to families of the importance of monitoring not only deadlines, but also student accounts and financial aid documentation. And even when families believe everything is in order, it’s worth double-checking that the university has received and processed everything correctly.
REED COLLEGE RESPONDS TO ALLEGATIONS OF ANTISEMITISM ON CAMPUS
In the latest example of colleges revising campus policies in response to challenges that have emerged since the October 7 attacks, Reed College has reached a voluntary settlement resolving two complaints alleging antisemitic discrimination on campus. As part of the agreement, the college will implement a series of reforms, including annual Title VI training for students, faculty, and staff, the appointment of a Title VI coordinator, and additional training on antisemitism and other forms of discrimination, the appointment of a Title VI coordinator, and clearer procedures for addressing discrimination and harassment. Reed emphasized that the agreement preserves its commitments to academic freedom and free speech while strengthening procedures for addressing discrimination and harassment. The agreement serves as another reminder that questions surrounding campus climate, free speech, and student safety remain major issues presently shaping higher education.
GALLUP POLL SHOWS GROWING CONCERNS ABOUT THE COST OF COLLEGE
This news is probably unsurprising to many, but a new Gallup poll suggests that most Americans are concerned about the rising costs of college, even as they continue to recognize many of higher education’s strengths. The poll found that only 12% of Americans believe four-year colleges are doing a good or excellent job of providing an affordable education, while 63% rated them poorly. Perceptions varied by political affiliation and age, but affordability emerged as a shared concern across nearly every demographic, and many agreed that colleges and governments are most responsible for mitigating those costs. At the same time – and perhaps conflicting with some recent reports of a rising disenchantment with higher ed – colleges received considerably higher marks for the quality of education they provide and their ability to prepare students for the workforce. These findings also reflect broader changes in how families approach the college search. Rather than assuming that any four-year degree is worth the investment, many are weighing tuition, financial aid, career outcomes, and return on investment more carefully than ever before.
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT CHOOSES FIRST TWO SCHOOLS FOR MILITARY FELLOWSHIP
The Department of Defense has selected the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Virginia Tech as the first universities to host its revamped Senior Service College Fellowship, a 10-month professional education program for senior military officers. The announcement follows the Pentagon’s decision earlier this year to end similar partnerships with several Ivy League institutions as part of a broader overhaul of military education. Defense officials said the new partnerships are intended to emphasize national security, leadership, and academic programs aligned with the military’s mission. Additional university partners are expected to be announced in the coming months.
BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK
This week, two New York Times articles explored some of the challenges American universities are navigating as political tensions, both at home and abroad, continue to affect campus life. A post from Friday examined how American universities with campuses in the Middle East are preparing for the upcoming academic year amid continued regional instability. Schools including Virginia Commonwealth, Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, Cornell, Georgetown, NYU, and the University of New Haven all say they intend to resume in-person operations this fall, even after a spring semester hindered by evacuations, remote instruction, and security concerns following the conflict between the US and Iran. Most universities have contingency plans in place should conditions worsen, but for now they are moving forward with normal operations.
Another NYT piece follows students at Utah Valley University nearly a year after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed while speaking on campus. Members of the university’s Turning Point USA chapter describe coping with grief, responding to conspiracy theories, advocating for a memorial, and attending school on a campus where students hold sharply different views about Kirk’s legacy. At the same time, the article highlights the emergence of new student organizations representing those who feel that celebrating Kirk would preserve harmful rhetoric. Tensions between these perspectives have given rise to debates over free expression and disagreements surrounding the university’s commencement speaker. Ultimately, the article illustrates the ways that a single tragic event has had lasting effects on student life, campus politics, and institutional decision-making.
OFFICE HAPPENINGS
Our students are busy working through the Common App, generic essays, and school-specific supplemental essays, and we’ve been seeing some excellent progress! As I mentioned above, many more prompts are about to drop come August 1st. Fortunately, the more we progress through those, the faster the process goes, as it becomes easier to see how best to repurpose the generics — and our students really get a hang of doing research for the “Why this School?” variety of prompts. We’ve seen so many excellent finished essays already!
Keep enjoying the summer – though try to stay clear of bagged lettuce!
As it seems to be the story of the summer, keep up with our posts on the changing requirements for standardized test scores!
