A growing number of colleges and universities are considering noncognitive variables--such as student attitudes and motivation--as part of a holistic admissions process.
“The results from those colleges and universities that have embraced holistic admissions by adding noncognitive measures to their admissions requirements include students’ academic success and improved institutional persistence and graduation rates—particularly among students who may be disadvantaged by traditional admission practices,” write Michele Sandlin, William Sedlacek and David Kalsbeek in their SEM Quarterly article, Employing Noncognitive Variables to Improve Admissions, and Increase Student Diversity and Retention.
Actionable information: The whole student
Noncognitive variables in admissions requirements can
- Provide better assessment of student ability and potential
- Increase diversity of incoming classes.
- Account for different learning styles and cultural backgrounds.
Institutions that use noncognitive variables find that they have learned more about a student and have learned it much earlier in the enrollment process--and they can thereby better serve the student once they have matriculated.
A responsive model
"Many of the institutions that have employed holistic admissions using noncognitive variables have had to be flexible and able to adjust their approach as they implement the process and as admissions evolves,” the article advises. All institutions employing holistic admissions will need to continue to experiment and improve the methodology while addressing and managing the additional demands that admissions and enrollment managers face, such as:
- Market pressures.
- Changing institutional goals, leadership and student demographics.
- Funding challenges.
- Campus climate.
ïSupporting the shift
If your institution is interested in learning more about how to employ noncognitive variables, Managing Consultant Michele Sandlin along with the AACRAO Consulting staff can assist you in adopting the most equitable approaches to comprehensive, holistic admissions and other student selection processes.
For more information about how your institution can benefit from our services, please contact us at (202) 355-1056.