Scoir Supports Colleges Challenged by Shifting Admissions Landscape

This article includes details on the Supreme Court Decision regarding Affirmative Action and the coming Search Cliff resulting from College Board going digital.

It’s been an incredibly eventful last few weeks in the world of college admissions.

Between the Supreme Court decision on Affirmative Action released yesterday and the impending Search Cliff, college admissions faces some of its biggest changes in decades.

In this article, we present the facts on these crucial updates and how Scoir is working to help students and institutions like yours.

Did the Supreme Court rule on Affirmative Action?

Yes; the Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard reads as follows:

“Overruling decades of precedent, today’s newly constituted Court singles out the limited use of race in holistic college admissions.”

In short, the Supreme Court ruled that race can no longer be used as a selection factor in  college admissions. The use of Affirmative Action in college admissions is now unconstitutional.

How does the Affirmative Action decision impact colleges?

The Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard case decision had deemed it unlawful for race to be taken into account in college admissions. 

If they choose to do so, students can disclose their race when explaining their lived experiences in their personal statements and application essays. Colleges, however, should now be very cautious about collecting or recording a student’s race or ethnicity.

What is the Search Cliff?

The Search Cliff became a new term in college admissions vocabulary in May of this year when College Board announced plans to transition to digital PSAT and SAT testing beginning in the fall of 2023. By going digital, student data collected by the College Board for tests offered in schools will become subject to federal and various state laws protecting student data. In short, the College Board will no longer be permitted to sell (or license) students’ personally identifiable information to colleges, which is the primary source for colleges to collect student contact information for marketing purposes.

Scoir’s analysis of published SAT data and AP data indicates this change will reduce the amount of student names colleges can acquire from College Board by up to 40%, with a significant drop of new freshman and sophomores starting this fall.

How does the Search Cliff impact colleges?

The Search Cliff will fundamentally change how colleges source student names for enrollment marketing purposes. The drop in student names will vary state-by-state but, overall, colleges can expect at least a 40% nationwide decrease in names by 2027.

The potential impact could be millions of dollars in lost tuition revenue for colleges.

Colleges should begin exploring other forms of student recruitment as soon as possible.

What Scoir is Doing to Support Students & Colleges in this New Era of College Admissions

If you’re in college admissions right now, odds are you’re overwhelmed (and that’s likely an understatement). A field that’s already burnt out faces two seemingly insurmountable waves of challenges. 

While time is of the essence, thankfully, there are proven ways to pivot your student recruitment strategies now.

Think of it this way: you have an opportunity to escape the soul-crushing act of cold emailing tens of thousands of students, and instead prioritize authentic connections. It’s an opportunity to help students more directly, and to pursue the students that are truly interested in your institution. 

Scoir is doing two things to support college admissions teams:

1. Matching best-fit students with best-fit institutions through Premium Presence and Outreach Messaging, which allows you to share who you are with our growing and purposeful audience. Partners can segment based on first generation status, student interests (diversity, equality, African American, Hispanic, Native American, etc.), and academic areas of focus.
2. Adjusting the way colleges configure their applications on Scoir to remove race and ethnicity so as to ensure your compliance with the Supreme Court’s ruling on Affirmative Action.

Curious to learn even more? Register for our webinar on July 12th: Engage 2x More Students with Scoir's Advanced Solutions

Our goal is to support everyone - students, families, high school counselors, and college admissions staff - to create a more integrated and accessible college discovery, search, and application experience. We hope you’ll join us.