Conference Corner articles highlight research and insights previously shared by presenters at a NACAC conference. Andrew Moe, Swarthmore College (PA), was part of a panel that explored micro-barriers at NACAC’s 2019 National Conference. Other panelists included Claire Kirby, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; Kelly Talbert, Boise State University (ID); Dustin Lynn, Battle Ground Academy (TN); and Brandi Smith, Marietta High School (GA).
Back when Dustin Lynn was thinking about college, he wasn’t sure where or how to apply. Lynn grew up in Waynesboro, Tennessee, a remote outpost of 2,500 people about 100 miles southwest of Nashville. Rural parts of the US rarely see admission officers visiting high schools or attending college fairs, and it was no different for Lynn and his classmates. But he was a bit different. He excelled in school and earned one of the highest standardized test scores the county had ever seen. Despite the lack of exposure to four-year colleges, Lynn took a leap and applied early decision to a highly selective college.
Lynn’s family was situated on the lowest economic rung in one of the poorest counties in Tennessee. He lived in a mobile home on rural country land where his dad mowed lawns and took up odd jobs for a living. His mom worked in a sewing factory. So when Lynn received his acceptance letter—as well as his financial aid award, lined with a Pell Grant, subsidized loans, and tremendous institutional aid, he was thrilled. Until he read what was required next: a $400 matriculation deposit, due in short order.
The enrollment deposit that Lynn and his family had to pay is an example of a micro-barrier. Micro-barriers, or logistical roadblocks students face in the college admission process, cause undue harm and disproportionately affect low-income and first-generation college students. Unlike macro-barriers—systemic and structural obstacles to achievement, access, and affordability (think neighborhood segregation and concentrated poverty)—micro-barriers can more easily be dismantled by admission and financial aid offices, high school counseling centers, and nonprofit organizations.
We found that more than 360 colleges failed to highlight how to obtain an application fee waiver, so we reached out to them. Many didn’t charge a fee at all, something that was left out of their website language.
The enrollment deposit is only one example of a micro-barrier. Add to the list: application fees, housing deposits, standardized testing registration, SAT and ACT score sends, the cost of test preparation or transportation to the testing center, availability of admission representatives in one’s community, visits to campuses, and the vast social capital required to apply to college. While we might not be able to solve school funding formulas or institutionalized racism overnight, we as a community can do more to equitably support those without financial resources and extensive connections to ensure that they, too, can make it to and through college.
Take the application fee. In 2019, working with a colleague, I reviewed more than 1,500 college admission websites. We found that more than 360 colleges failed to highlight how to obtain an application fee waiver, so we reached out to them. Many didn’t charge a fee at all, something that was left out of their website language. Others wrote back to us, only they thought they were writing to a low-income student requesting information about an application fee waiver and financial aid. We played “secret shopper” to better understand true responses from admission offices.
The results were astounding. More than 70 percent of responding colleges failed to include any information about financial aid, and several told “the student” to submit a fee waiver—like the NACAC fee waiver—without providing a link to the form or an explanation about NACAC. While many responded and offered fee waivers and codes to submit a free application, a few notable replies included:
Those responses are unacceptable. In addition, too many colleges require documentation of federal free lunch status or other barriers for the application fee to be waived, and this is one reason why students give up applying. At the 2019 NACAC National Conference, my colleagues and I presented to a sparsely populated room about micro-barriers in the admission process. Namely, we covered how a lack of high school visits by colleges, along with application fees and enrollment deposits, created barriers for underserved students.
In our research project about waivers, we found some excellent examples of how public colleges are changing course. Boise State University (ID) and University of North Carolina-Charlotte represented exceptional instances of how colleges should outline their fee waiver policies. Both institutions included clear and concise language on their admission websites about eligibility for fee waivers and how to obtain one. Boise State went so far as to offer an enrollment deposit waiver through a web-based form. The admission directors at both institutions disclosed that their budgets hinged on application fee revenue, yet because of their institutional missions and personal commitment to lowering barriers, they offer fee waivers to those most in need. Still, more must be done to eliminate barriers and mitigate their harmful effects on underserved students.
Dustin Lynn’s story didn’t end with his admission letter. Lynn was determined to make it work. He knew the opportunity he had in front of him could change the trajectory of his life. He told his parents about the $400 enrollment deposit and hoped for the best. “Dad told me, ‘Well, I’ll just have to mow more lawns. We’ll come up with it, somehow,’” Lynn told me. And they did. Lynn enrolled in college as a rural, first-generation, Pell Grant recipient and graduated with a bachelor’s and master’s in education from the same institution. Today, he’s director of college counseling at Battle Ground Academy (TN), co-leader of the NACAC Rural and Small Town Special Interest Group, and a fierce advocate for low-income students in the college admission process. In fact, he's the colleague who helped me review those 1,500-some college websites, looking for answers about application fee waivers.
We shouldn’t have to highlight examples of how our own colleagues have overcome micro-barriers in the admission process, but I hope it serves as a stark reminder that our community includes first-generation, low-income folks who made it to college, despite the persistent barriers that we fail to dismantle.
NACAC member Andrew Moe is director of admissions at Swarthmore College (PA), co-leader of NACAC's Rural and Small Town SIG, and a member of the association's Inclusion, Access, and Success Committee.