Infinite Campus Takes the SIS Lead in Promoting MN College Direct Admissions Program
November 7, 2022 — Blaine, Minn. — In late September, Governor Tim Walz announced the launch of Minnesota’s new Direct Admissions Program, an initiative out of the Office of Higher Education (OHE) promoting college access. The program helps ensure graduating high school students are aware they qualify for admission to multiple Minnesota colleges and universities.
“The program’s goal is to get students thinking about their lives after graduation and increase the number of students who go onto college or job training, as well as communicate that all students are college material,” said Meredith Fergus, Minnesota OHE Director of Research.
To get Minnesota Direct Admissions off the ground, the OHE reached out to various student information system (SIS) vendors to partner on the data elements and implementation. Fergus connected with Infinite Campus Product Manager, Eric Gordee.
“Eric took off with the idea,” Fergus said. “So far, Infinite Campus is the only student information system vendor to participate in the program.”
Infinite Campus programmed a new functionality within its software to allow each student to be sorted into the academic tier that corresponds with their GPA. The tier structures were determined by the participating colleges/universities. After the high school sends a message to each of their graduates sharing which schools they qualified for, the student selects the colleges they are interested in applying to. The individual colleges/universities then begin communicating with each student and all application fees are waived.
“Infinite Campus was very excited to partner with the Minnesota Office of Higher Education and provide visibility into the opportunities available for students to further explore post-secondary options,” Eric Gordee said. “By automating the admissions process, district staff can now focus more on guiding students and families through the next step of the college application process. It was a win-win for all involved.”
Gordee added that this functionality is now available to all Minnesota schools using the Infinite Campus SIS.
For the pilot program, 40 selected high schools, representing more than 7,000 seniors from the class of 2023, are taking part. Over 50 Minnesota colleges and universities are involved, including public, private, technical, and tribal schools.
Pilot Participants
“We noticed an increase in students [involved] during our college application day. More students were applying, and they did not carry the stress of ‘what if,’ knowing that they all had at least a few schools already to choose from,” said Nicole Lackas, School Counselor at Cloquet Public Schools.
Cannon Falls Principal Tim Hodges added, “Direct Admissions helps those who may not see themselves as a typical college student have options after high school. Knowing you’ll be admitted to college is one barrier that is eliminated. The more barriers we can remove, the better.”
For more information about the Direct Admissions Program, please contact Eric Gordee at eric.gordee@infinitecampus.com.
About Infinite Campus
As the most trusted name in student information, Infinite Campus manages 8 million students in 45 states through schools, school districts, regional consortia, state departments of education and the federal government. Since our founding in 1993, our mission has been to Transform K12 Education®. We are dedicated to providing solutions that help schools run more efficiently, allow teachers to spend more time with students, and encourage students to rediscover the joy of learning. www.infinitecampus.com