Direct admission programs help untangle the application maze.

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Given the growing necessity of college-level learning, simply getting into college shouldn’t cause so much anxiety. Read more »

VIDEO: CONFIDENCE CLIMBING IN WISCONSIN

Eiziah Lieblein keeps his college acceptance letters in a backpack he carries every day. He says his future holds ‘something big.’

FEATURED STORIES

PROACTIVE PROGRAM MAKES SENSE—AND CAN SAVE STUDENTS’ DOLLARS.

HONOLULU—When students at Farrington High School attend the annual kuleana fair, an event whose name is the Hawaiian word for “responsibility,” they play a game that simulates the financial challenges they’re bound to face in life.

They draw cards that may give them a child, a car loan, or student debt.

For Rianna Milne, a senior at Farrington who helped organize the school’s kuleana fair in spring 2026, it’s the last of those three that she’s trying to avoid.

THE DIRECT APPROACH AIDS STUDENTS AND SCHOOLS.

The growth of direct admission—an approach that simplifies the college search process by automatically admitting high schoolers who meet certain criteria—bodes well for both.

VIDEO: NOW SHE KNOWS, “THE WORLD BELIEVES
IN ME.”

Milana Waggoner was already questioning whether she wanted to attend college when educators at Corona High School instructed her and her classmates to apply through a pilot program that gives them a guaranteed spot at most California State University campuses. Watch »

Focus magazine author: Jamaal Abdul-Alim

The stories in this issue of Focus were reported and written by Jamaal Abdul-Alim, a freelance writer based in Washington, D.C., where he has covered higher education policy since 2008.