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Get into college without applying? The University of Utah is experimenting with it

University of Utah Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Mitzi Montoya signs a certificate of partnership, Aug. 12, 2024, at the John R. Park Building. The Utah Direct program is a partnership with the Canyons, Davis, Granite and Provo City school districts. Granite School District Superintendent Ben Horsley (left) and Provo City School District Superintendent Wendy Dau (center) also signed, along with two other superintendents.
Martha Harris
/
KUER
University of Utah Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Mitzi Montoya signs a certificate of partnership, Aug. 12, 2024, at the John R. Park Building. The Utah Direct program is a partnership with the Canyons, Davis, Granite and Provo City school districts. Granite School District Superintendent Ben Horsley (left) and Provo City School District Superintendent Wendy Dau (center) also signed, along with two other superintendents.

About 5,000 high school seniors in Utah will be guaranteed a spot at the University of Utah — without having to apply.

It’s part of a program university leaders announced Aug. 12 called Utah Direct. The program is a pilot with the Canyons, Granite, Davis and Provo City school districts. The university hopes to make it available to more Utah students in the future.

Students in these districts with a GPA of 3.5 or higher, and who have finished certain courses, will receive a letter this week letting them know they have “guaranteed admissions” at the U.

“Our goal here is to reduce anxiety about college-going, about filling out all those applications,” said the university’s Vice Provost for Enrollment Management Steve Robinson. “We want people to know that they’re already in and just have to fill out the document, and then they’ll be fine.”

Students will eventually still have to fill out an application form since the university doesn’t receive their information and an application is required to receive scholarships.

This won’t be the first time this cohort of students is hearing from the U, Robinson said.

In 2022, the university started sending letters to students with certain GPAs, encouraging them to work hard and think about college. The original plan, Robinson said, was to start communicating with freshmen in 2022, follow them through high school and then offer guaranteed admissions.

“But it was going so well, and we had such enthusiasm from the students and their parents as they were receiving these letters,” he said. “We decided to expedite our calendar.”

Going forward, the university will send letters to every student in the four school districts during their freshman year and will keep sending letters in subsequent school years if students meet certain academic benchmarks.

In 2023, about 56% of University of Utah students were state residents.

University Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Mitzi Montoya wants more homegrown students to attend the U, but said the main goal is to increase the number of students going to college overall. By receiving guaranteed admission at the start of their senior year, Montoya hopes students feel more confident that they belong in higher education and this eliminates some of the barriers to getting there.

Montoya and the superintendents of the four school districts signed a certificate of partnerships on Monday “to increase college-going rates among Utah high school graduates.”

Granite School District Superintendent Ben Horsley said this sends “an incredibly powerful message to our most at-risk students.”

“What this message is is that we see you, we see the great work that you’re doing, and you have incredible potential.”

Editor’s note: KUER is a licensee of the University of Utah but operates as an editorially independent news organization.

Martha is KUER’s education reporter.
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