Director’s Note 

Dear friends, 

After months of anticipation and a promising early spring pronouncement from Punxsutawney Phil, I’m pleased to welcome this new season with you. We’re getting closer to the end of the school year, but there is still so much to look forward to and so much to celebrate — including the 2023 state campaign success and School of Excellence winners.

Thank you to everyone who hosted college application events and submitted their data for the 2023 state campaigns. The results have exceeded our expectations, and we are thrilled to report that in 2023 the number of host sites and completed applications was the highest we’ve ever seen. We had more than 9,000 participating sites, an increase of nearly 80% over last year. More than 467,000 seniors submitted at least one college application during the events, and students overall submitted almost 1.4 million applications.

We also experienced a record number of School of Excellence awardees last year, with an impressive 27 states selecting winners! Let’s take a moment to congratulate the educators and communities that supported students with college application drives, financial aid workshops, and one-on-one mentoring for academic and career planning. I look forward to keeping this momentum going as we progress through 2024.

With gratitude,  
Lisa King, director 

The Power of Metrics: How to Use Data to Attract More Students to College Preparation Events

College preparation events happen every year across the country. Representatives from higher education institutions visit hundreds of high schools, offering students valuable information on college applications, student life, financial aid, and more. Planning these annual events can be overwhelming, but clarifying the goals of your event will set you on the right path. 

Goals don’t have to be complicated, and how you measure them doesn’t have to be either. For example, your goal may be to increase the number of attendees. But how can you strategically achieve that goal? By asking yourself some guiding questions:

• Who are your audiences? Students and their families are the primary audiences for college preparation events.
• What are the best places to reach your audience? To reach students, utilize social media, homeroom announcements, and hang posters in school hallways and at sporting events. Facebook, email, and direct mail are a great way to reach their families.
• What is the best way to reach your audience? High school students respond best to short, concise content— and even better if it’s on video. For families, emphasize why the event is valuable and highlight aspects of convenience.
• What does successful outreach look like? Consider setting a measurable goal to speak to an event’s success, like a specific number of attendees you’d like at your event.

Answering these questions strategically can help boost attendance and create a targeted outreach campaign. Once you’ve created your campaign, it’s essential to measure its effectiveness using various metrics:

• Event registration: Google Forms is an excellent resource for collecting and tracking registrations. You can even create a QR code leading to the Google Form and add it to print and digital materials.
• Event attendance: Ask attendees to check in upon arrival and track who registered in advance and who was a walk-in.
• Most-visited vendors: Provide vendors with visitor sign-in sheets at their booths so they can keep track of the traffic they receive throughout the day.
• Digital interactions and engagement: Social media platforms offer tools to automatically collect interactions with the content you post.

Analyzing metrics like these can reveal effective strategies, areas for improvement, and potential pitfalls for future events. For example, if registrations exceed actual attendance, it’s vital to understand why – perhaps the promotional messaging needed strengthening or more event reminders were necessary. 

Measurable goals serve as the cornerstone of effective planning strategies. By keeping goals simple and leveraging the information you’ve gathered, you can build better and more successful events in the future. 

National Campaign Data and School of Excellence

ACT’s American College Application Campaign recently announced its fifth annual School of Excellence awardees, a group of 27 exemplary schools helping students pursue postsecondary success, regardless of background or circumstance.

Read the press release and learn about the winners.

Time to Focus on FAFSA 

While it is a challenging year for FAFSA submissions, now is the time for a final push to engage all students in your senior class in FAFSA completion events. The U.S. Department of Education announced several updates supporting the implementation of the 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), or the Better FAFSA. These updates include:

• How the FAFSA calculates the amount of aid students will receive to be in complete alignment with the FAFSA Simplification Act.
• New guidance on submitting the FAFSA if a student does not have a social security number.
• Online FAFSA submissions are now processed in the order of receipt, with paper forms processing last.
• Students can make corrections to their FAFSA submission in the first half of April.

The White House and the U.S. Department of Education have recently declared April 15-19 as the FAFSA Week of Action. Discover how to show your commitment to this important work during the Week of Action and beyond.

Although students are potentially waiting for financial aid offers, it’s important to remind them not to postpone taking the next steps toward postsecondary education. The National Association of College Admission Counseling created a directory of enrollment commitment deadlines that is regularly updated.

Follow the National College Attainment Network’s FAFSA Tracker for the latest data on FAFSA submission in your state.

For additional guidance, ACAC collaborated with the National College Attainment Network and myOptions Encourage to provide a list of FAFSA updates and resources for educators to support FAFSA completion efforts.

College Signing Day Toolkit

College Signing Day celebrates high school students committing to continuing their education journey through higher education. We crafted this year’s toolkit to help you celebrate! As you prepare for this year’s event, acknowledge your students’ accomplishments and the important decisions they’ve made.

Download and share materials from the toolkit, and use the hashtags #CollegeSigningDay and #BetterMakeRoom on social media.

ASCA School Counselor of the Year

It’s been a few months since Diana Virgil was named National High School Counselor of the Year. Dr. Virgil shared her story with ACT to help prepare and empower students to succeed in their postsecondary pursuits. Her insights for first-generation college students can be found in a two-part blog series.

• Diana Virgil, School Counselor of the Year: Empowering Students to Succeed
• 2024 School Counselor of the Year Talks Improving Postsecondary Readiness

Host Site Recruitment and Registration Resources

Are you interested in becoming a host site for 2024 state campaigns? If you’ve never participated before, or just need a refresher on the details, be on the lookout for emails from your state coordinators for the information you need and to learn more about the benefits of participating.

Need more information? Check out these helpful tools and resources:

• Why Join?  
• Host site FAQ.
• Host site planning committee audit.