updated: April 1, 2020

Guidance on Admissions from Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 Impacted Terms

Secondary and postsecondary Institutions have implemented, or are in the process of implementing, changes in practices and or policies which have been impacted by COVID-19. Two areas of practice directly impacted are admissions (both new and transfer) and transfer credit evaluation.

While short-term solutions may be advisable, it is prudent to also consider long-term implications of any changes to practice and/or policy. What may help students and applicants today may complicate situations in the future.

The guidance below provides you with some general parameters to follow when implementing changes to grading and transcript practices at your institution. Please refer to any existing accrediting body, state, system or district policy or guidance in addition to the recommendations below before incorporating any changes into your policy or practice. Following these guidelines are a set of key concepts to consider when making these changes, so that your students and faculty are in the best possible situation, today and in the future. Please refer to our Guidance on Grading and Transcript Notations from Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 for details on practice for outbound transfer credit.

Overall guidance

1. Adapt policies as put forth by accreditation bodies, state agencies, sporting regulators, or other governing agencies as appropriate.
2. Clearly articulate new policies or requirements on an accessible web page or via email to prospects, faculty and staff

• Admitting first-time undergraduate students

   

  1. Extend any deadline for submitting final high school transcripts until the end of their first enrolled semester
  2. IF your institution has accepted ONLY paper high school transcripts or any other supporting documentation needed for admission, develop policy and practice for accepting secure alternative formats
  3. Be flexible in your international credentials guidelines and refer to example protocol for international evaluation and Inclusive Admissions Practices for Displaced & Vulnerable Persons
  4. Consider providing an online, other remote or virtual summer orientation, advising and registration soon
  5. Waive standardized testing admissions requirements
  6. Transition interview and/or audition requirements to a virtual platform
  7. Consider moving to online and/or remote course placement testing options OR develop a rubric of course placement eligibility based on other available data, if applicable

   

• Awarding/recognizing credit earned by recent high school graduates impacted by COVID-19

   

  1. International baccalaureate (IB)
  • IF a student is issued an IB diploma or course certificate reflecting their standard of work, evaluate applicable coursework for credit.
  2. Advanced placement courses
  • IF the student provides results from an AP exam taken in the spring of 2020, apply your existing policy for credit and placement. In some cases these exams may not reflect the complete learning outcomes of the AP course and additional advising may be required to appropriately place the student.
  • IF a student was unable to take an AP exam and a grade is available on an official transcript, award credit based on the grade earned in the course per the transfer credit guidelines below.
  3. Dual enrollment courses- award credit per credit transfer based on previous institutional policy, as applicable to either the awarding of high school credit or Transfer Credit.
  4. All other pre-college credit options award credit based on previous institutional policy, as applicable to either the awarding of high school credit or Transfer Credit.

   

• Admitting first-time graduate students

   

  1. Extend any deadline for submitting undergraduate final transcripts until the end of their first enrolled semester
  2. IF your institution has accepted ONLY paper undergraduate transcripts or any other supporting documentation needed for admission, develop policy and practice for accepting secure alternative formats
  3. Waive standardized testing admissions requirements
  4. Be flexible in your international credentials guidelines admission guidelines and refer to example protocol for international evaluation and Inclusive Admissions Practices for Displaced & Vulnerable Persons

   

• Admitting first-time professional program students

   

  1. Refer to the appropriate accrediting body or professional licensure entity for guidance.

   

• Admitting undergraduate transfer students

   

  1. Extend any deadline for submitting final college transcripts until the end of their first enrolled semester
  2. IF your institution has accepted ONLY paper college transcripts or any other supporting documentation needed for admission, develop policy and practice for accepting secure alternative formats
  3. Consider providing an moving to online, other remote or virtual summer orientation, advising and registration soon
  4. Waive standardized testing admissions requirements
  5. Transition interview and/or audition requirements to a virtual platform
  6. Consider moving to online and/or remote course placement testing options OR develop a rubric of course placement eligibility based on other available data, if applicable
  7. Be flexible in your international credentials guidelines admission guidelines and refer to example protocol for international evaluation and Inclusive Admissions Practices for Displaced & Vulnerable Persons
  8. Two scenarios for calculating a transfer GPA for admission into the institution from a post-secondary transcript that includes any pass/fail (P/F) or other non-qualitative, binary marks for the terms impacted by COVID-19
     • Scenario A: Student has completed enough credit hours to be admitted as a transfer student under current policy
     • Count Pass(P) and other equivalent non-qualitative, binary marks grades as earned credit
     • Exclude all non-qualitative, binary marks from the transfer GPA calculation used for admission regardless of whether credit was earned for the course.
     • Scenario B: Student has not completed enough credit hours to be admitted as a transfer student under current policy
     • Same as above PLUS use the stated admission policy for these students as you would under normal circumstances.
     • Calculate a transfer GPA for admission into a selective admission major

   

Key Questions to Consider:

1. Some institutions report that they are allowing either the student or the faculty member to decide if a standard grade will be converted to the P/F or S/U, or other non-qualitative, binary mark. How will your institution treat a term impacted by COVID-19 where incoming transfer students have both standard letter grades and P/F or S/U or other non-qualitative, binary marks?
2. How will your institution address admission into selective majors where you have some transfer students with standard grades and others with P/F or S/U, or other non-qualitative, binary marks vying for the same spots?
3. Some institutions are extending opportunities for a “W”. How will that affect your admission requirements, admission into selective programs, etc?
4. The extension of deadlines for the submission of final transcripts will likely have an impact on the student’s ability to register for the next semester. Have you discussed how your institution will manage your registration holds to ensure that the students can register at the appropriate time?