Aug. 23, 2023, PITTSBURGH — Niche, the leading platform connecting students with colleges, has launched a new Direct Admissions program that modernizes the admissions process for college-bound students. A free, student-centric resource, Niche Direct Admissions™ simplifies the admissions process and exposes high school students to new college options, offering real-time acceptance and scholarships without the need to apply.
The full platform launch follows the completion of successful pilot and beta tests during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 enrollment cycles. Niche Direct Admissions is now fully integrated into the existing Niche platform, allowing Niche users to view and accept or decline admissions and scholarships offers on their Niche Dashboard without ever leaving the site.
Niche Direct Admissions eliminates the need for a traditional college application by enabling partner colleges to offer acceptance and scholarships to students based on their Niche profile. Within about 15 minutes, students can complete Niche profiles by entering demographic information, their programs of interest and their self-provided GPA and be matched with institutions for which they meet the predetermined criteria. Immediately after registering, students can see on their personalized Niche Dashboard the colleges they are accepted to and their potential scholarships.
“As the college searchers’ platform of choice, Niche has already helped millions of students discover their best-fit college. During the last two admissions cycles, we validated an important paradigm shift in the market and removed friction from the process by enabling the colleges to proactively offer Niche users acceptance and scholarships without an application process. Now, we have further innovated our platform for a seamless student experience so the process is even easier and more accessible to all,” said Luke Skurman, founder and CEO of Niche.
He continued: “Today, Niche Direct Admissions gives students acceptance and scholarship offers in real time. More than a quarter of today’s high school students opt out of applying to certain colleges due to concerns over list price, however, most students get some form of financial aid. Niche is focused on reducing the price intimidation students may feel by supplying scholarship information up front to help ease the decision-making process. We’re excited for the impact our platform will have on so many students who will benefit from this less stressful and more efficient college admissions experience, and we are confident that Niche Direct Admissions will help modernize the college admissions process for students and higher ed institutions.”
Niche’s beta phase of Direct Admissions included 25 higher education institution partners. Partner colleges that launched a Niche Direct Admissions program in 2022 saw an average of 37 incremental deposits from students who had not submitted an application.
Houston Christian University was among the participating beta colleges. HCU’s Vice President of Enrollment Management, James Steen, said: “Niche Direct Admissions has allowed us to notify qualified students about admissions and scholarship opportunities at Houston Christian University that they would have never known about otherwise. The program has made the admissions process much less stressful for students, and as a result, about 50 new freshmen will be enrolling at HCU this fall because of Niche Direct Admissions.”
Fifty colleges have formally committed to offer Niche Direct Admissions during the 2023-24 admissions cycle, and 100 institutions are expected to participate by the end of 2023. College-bound students and their families can review the institutions currently live at https://www.niche.com/colleges/search/direct-admissions/, with more being added monthly.
Niche serves as the bridge between students and higher education institutions, connecting over a million high school students with their best-fit colleges each year. As the market leader in providing resources for high school students considering college, one out of every two college-bound students will create a Niche profile during the course of their college search.
Niche Direct Admissions is now available for the high school class of 2024. High school underclassmen who register with a Niche profile will automatically be eligible for Direct Admissions offers during their senior year. Students interested in creating a Niche profile or learning more about Direct Admissions can visit www.niche.com/about/direct-admissions. Higher education institutions interested in more information on how to join the Direct Admissions program can visit www.niche.com/about/partners/direct-admissions.
About Niche
Niche is the leading platform connecting students and families with colleges and schools. We believe finding the right school shouldn’t be hard, so we’re committed to making it easy for our users to discover and connect with the best ones for them. On Niche, users have access to comprehensive profiles on every school in America — from the ones they know to the ones they have yet to discover. With unique ratings, honest reviews, personalized recommendations, and tools to guide users through every step, Niche is changing the way millions of people find and connect with their school.
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