Our Next Chapter
A group of colleges and universities came together in 1975 to streamline the college application process by creating a common application form for students. Nearly 50 years later, Common App continues to open doors to opportunity.
Our Next Chapter
A group of colleges and universities came together in 1975 to streamline the college application process by creating a common application form for students. Nearly 50 years later, Common App continues to open doors to opportunity.
The challenge
Over the last decade alone, Common App has made huge strides in expanding access for students. Since 2019, low-income applicants have increased at nearly three times the rate of higher-income applicants.
Yet, even with a diverse membership of more than 1,000 institutions, students from low-income communities are still significantly underrepresented in our applicant pool.
Our moonshot
Common App has set a bold goal to focus its work in the next chapter. We call it our moonshot: By 2030, Common App will close its equity gap in students pursuing postsecondary opportunities.
We believe that, working together, we can close equity gaps and uplift today’s students.
The opportunity
Our work
Doing more with data
Extracurricular Activities
White applicants reported an average of nearly 47% more activities than Black applicants; continuing-generation applicants reported an average of almost 37% more than first-generation applicants; and fee waiver non-recipients reported an average of 35% more than fee waiver recipients.
Transfer
Most applicants on Common App’s transfer platform are from traditionally well-served populations (one-quarter were underrepresented minority students, one-third were first-generation students and just 6% were from low-income households) and are typically transferring from a four-year university or a high-transfer traditional community college.
Early Deadlines
While early deadlines are increasingly popular overall and may confer admissions advantages for students, our data show that applicants historically underrepresented in higher education generally appear to make their college application decisions later in the process. A large share of low-income applicants did not apply early compared to higher-income applicants who were significantly more likely to apply either early decision or early action (52% vs. 29%).
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