After a year that has tried us all in ways we never imagined, many of our teens are lonely, stressed, and confused. As the adults in their lives, we hope to offer them tools and insights that might ease the burdens they face, including the uncertainties and challenges of applying to college amid a pandemic. Today's shifting landscape includes changes to admission requirements and, in many cases, reduced family incomes. Students are also unable to explore their college options in ways they might have in the past. Here are a few ways that counselors and parents can offer perspective and solace, thus easing student stress. Remind students that everyone applying to college has experienced setbacks. It is easy to feel like the pandemic happened to you. Tests, in-person classes, grades, and activities have been modified or canceled all over the county. While no two situations are exactly the same, and some students have been in more advantaged positions.
Like most NACAC affiliates, the Western Association for College Admission Counseling (WACAC) earns most of its revenue from a trifecta of professional development events: Share, Learn, Connect (SLC) sessions, college fairs, and an annual conference. Last summer when the WACAC executive board met, we knew that we couldn't hold our events in-person and therefore, our budget would once again be severely impacted. A year later, WACAC ended the most unprecedented year in its' 53-year history by approving free membership for community-based organizations a valued segment of our professional community whose commitment and engagement garnered more than $250,000 in revenue for our virtual events and approving a proposed balanced budget that brings us back to pre-pandemic levels. By leveraging key business partnerships, the WACAC board committed to serving our membership even if it meant trying something new (i.e., a virtual annual conference) and harnessing the collective work of our members. Ultimately, WACAC survived the global pandemic stronger, more relevant, and necessary than ever.
It's been a full year since the coronavirus pandemic forced us to change our way of interacting with one another. We've learned new words, new habits, and most importantly we've learned how to adapt to (constant) unexpected changes. We are still perfecting our processes. Let's revisit a previous article where we presented transfer trend expectations using Great Recession data as a benchmark. However, experts at the annual National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students (NISTS) conference in February agreed that looking back at data from the Great Recession wouldn't accurately predict enrollment trends during our current crisis. In fact, trends amid the pandemic have played out very differently. Students have reduced their mobility by staying put and, in many cases, by not enrolling in new courses for the rest of the academic year. In addition, student mobility in all transfer pathways has been a complex issue. This includes students transferring from four...year to four-year institutions or from two-year to four-year institutions, which both have seen a steep decline.
In the five months since the 2020 presidential election, NACAC has celebrated a string of legislative victories impacting a wide range of policy priorities, including undocumented students, school counselors, and student loan repayment. These accomplishments are the culmination of years of advocacy by NACAC members and staff to promote the interests of students and college admission counseling professionals on the federal level. At the close of the tumultuous 116th Congress in December, the House and Senate finalized a massive omnibus spending bill that included COVID relief funding for schools and colleges, fiscal year 2021 education funding, and policy changes to the Higher Education Act. NACAC and its colleagues in the higher education community stress that these changes are best viewed in combination, rather than individually. Together, they represent an effort to improve equity and fairness in the federal financial aid system while recognizing the breadth and depth of need.
Smith offers insights about how NACAC continue to work for continued, dedicated work on behalf of students amid COVID-19 emergency NACAC staff has fostered relationships with other associations that are proving more important now than ever Our communications team, for example, is in touch with colleagues from AACRAO, ACT, ASCA, IECA, HECA, College Board, ACT, NASFAA, and Common App to exchange news about critical changes that affect our shared members The National College Fairs and national conference teams are gathering information from other education associations regarding canceled events, insurance policies, and go or no-go decisions that help inform decisions by NACAC leadership
