DePaul University announced Thursday that its applicants will no longer have to submit SAT or ACT scores, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. DePaul, the largest private nonprofit institution to implement this policy, will require students who choose not to submit test scores to answer short essay questions that demonstrate non-cognitive skills, The Chronicle reported. The school first incorporated these non-cognitive measures, which include leadership and the ability to accomplish long-term plans, into its admission procedures several years ago, Jon Boeckenstedt, DePaul associate vice president for enrollment management, said in an interview with The Chronicle. DePaul anticipates that the new policy will benefit low-income and minority students who often have high grade point averages but low test scores. DePaul follows other colleges, like Wake Forest University, that have eliminated standardized testing requirements in attempts to increase the diversity of incoming classes and market themselves as more accessible, The Chronicle reported.
A recent study published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes found that depression and a lack of financial aid are the main factors that motivate students to drop out of college, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. The study, "A detection model of college withdrawal," determined that certain "shocks" such as unexpectedly low grades, the loss of financial aid, an increase in tuition, disagreements with roommates and recruitment to another institution or job often contribute to students' decisions to withdraw from a college. The researchers created a cognitive model of the decision process that students employ when deciding whether or not to continue their education that compares a student's decision with an employee's decision to quit a job, according to the study. The researchers also found that factors like pregnancy and substance addiction do not play a significant role in college dropout considerations, the study reported.
Tennessee liberal arts college Sewanee: The University of the South will cut student tuition, fees and room and board by 10 percent, Inside Higher Ed reported. Sewanee officials said the decision stemmed from the need to compete with less expensive nearby public universities, according to Inside Higher Ed. Sewanee's tuition cost just above $46,000 before the tuition reduction. The University's finances have followed an "unsustainable trajectory" over the past several years as the number of students paying full tuition declined, Sewanee President John McCardell said in an interview with Inside Higher Ed.
