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More than 200,000 students who have started filling out college applications this fall are about to get good news.

“Congratulations!” the email will say. They’re in.

The email, to be sent Tuesday by the online portal called the Common Application, will convey offers of admission from 70 colleges and universities based on states where the students live and the grade-point averages they report. The offers are targeting those who would be <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/10/20/a-third-of-students-applying-to-college-via-common-app-are-first-gen/" target="_blank">first-generation college students</a> or come from families with significant financial need.

What’s more is that those offers will go to prospective students even if they haven’t completed their applications.

Five public universities in Virginia and Maryland are among the institutions<b> </b>participating in what’s known as “direct admissions” — Christopher Newport, George Mason, Towson and Virginia Commonwealth universities and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

The program aims to ease the stress of the college search by letting eligible students know they will definitely get in somewhere. It is a reminder that many well-regarded schools are eager to attract students and will accept almost all who meet standards to qualify — a point often lost amid the perennial obsession over how few applicants get into the Ivy League and other ultracompetitive universities.

Will top schools continue ‘legacy’ admission preferences? Many say yes.

“We’ve pretty much declared that excellence is not going to be defined by a low acceptance rate,” said Michael Rao, president of VCU. “That whole elitist mind-set is something that doesn’t sit very well for a public university.”

VCU, in Richmond, has about 28,000 students. Its freshman admission rate is about 90 percent. It also has a very high level of scientific research and a campus in Qatar. More than a third of its freshmen this year are among the first in their families to go to college, Rao said. He said he views direct admissions as a way to lure promising students — in this case, those with a GPA of at least 3.3 — as quickly as possible.

“When you’re not fast, and other places are faster, you’re at a disadvantage,” he said.

The Common App is a nonprofit platform that enables students to apply to more than 1,000 colleges and universities. Those who use it are asked to fill out information about their personal background, academic credentials and extracurricular activities. The application also includes an essay prompt, and some schools ask for multiple essays.

For many students, all of that is daunting.

Under the direct admissions program — which the Common App launched in trial runs in 2021 and 2022 — students who create an account and fill out enough academic information can get an offer from schools that want them even if the students haven’t yet applied. In the most recent trial, 14 schools offered direct admission to 33,000 students, according to Common App. More than 800 eventually accepted those offers.

In this round, 70 schools are participating from 28 states. Also among them are Hendrix College in Arkansas, Central Michigan University and The New School in New York.

Offers will be sent to qualified students from states where the schools are based. To qualify, Common App said, students must identify as a potential first-generation college student or come from a family with low to moderate income. They also must meet a minimum high school GPA that each participating school will establish.

Jenny Rickard, president and chief executive of Common App, said one of the goals is to instill confidence in applicants. They might or might not wind up enrolling at the schools that send them direct offers. But they will know that they have what it takes to succeed. “They are worthy and welcomed on a college campus,” Rickard said.

Direct admissions is a relatively new feature in the fast-evolving admissions landscape as many colleges and universities are <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/03/02/test-optional-colleges-columbia-william-mary/" target=_blank>dropping standardized testing requirements</a> and responding to the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in June that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/06/29/affirmative-action-supreme-court-ruling/" target=_blank>struck down race-conscious admissions programs</a> at Harvard University and the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/10/10/supreme-court-race-unc-admission/" target=_blank>University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill</a>.

The direct admissions technique underscores the huge number of schools that are, unlike Harvard and UNC-Chapel Hill, not highly selective and are eager to get more students.

The Common App is far from the only pathway for direct admissions. Several years ago, colleges and universities in Idaho <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/11/23/idaho-universities-see-enrollment-rise-after-killing-admissions-application" target="_blank">pioneered the idea</a> of admitting students directly from within their state as a technique to counter stagnant enrollment. States including <a href="https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-direct-admissions-program-change-how-students-apply-college-school-ditch-no-applications/600315277/" target="_blank">Minnesota</a> and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2023/10/07/georgia-launches-statewide-direct-college-admissions-program-for-high-school-seniors/?sh=5c09c5a522f5" target="_blank">Georgia</a> have followed. An education-focused site called <a href="https://www.niche.com/colleges/search/direct-admissions/" target="_blank">Niche also helps</a> colleges connect with potential students through direct admission offers. So do other companies.

Getting an offer is just the beginning. Potential students must determine whether they qualify for financial aid and what the net cost will be for tuition, housing and meals. They must also send in various forms and high school transcripts.

For the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, direct admissions is one way it hopes to raise enrollment. The historically Black institution has 2,844 students this fall on its campus in Princess Anne, said its president, Heidi M. Anderson. She said the university could grow to 3,500.

“Each student matters,” Anderson said. “Each application matters. We are an open-access institution because we so firmly believe in recruiting first-generation students. We cast a wide net.”

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George Mason, based in Fairfax County, is the largest public university in Virginia. With about 40,000 students, it admits the vast majority of its applicants and is also a major destination for community college transfers.

“We have a brand built on the idea of identifying talent wherever it lives,” said David Burge, vice president for enrollment management at George Mason. “Whatever socioeconomic background, and whatever experiences these students might have been born into.”

Through the Common App, George Mason will make offers to eligible students with a GPA of at least 3.3, Burge said.

Separately, it is teaming this year with eight high schools in Northern Virginia to offer direct admission to more than 1,100 students with a GPA of at least 3.25, Burge said. Those high schools are Alexandria City, Annandale, Falls Church, Herndon, Justice, Manassas Park, Mount Vernon and Osbourn.

How many will eventually enroll at<b> </b>the university is unknown. But that’s not necessarily the point.

“Obviously I want them to come to Mason,” Burge said, “but I’m happy if they go to college.”

Education Writers Association 2016 national award for beat reporting, large newsrooms

Stanford University, bachelor's degree in English

Nick Anderson covers higher education and other education topics for The Washington Post. He has been a writer and editor at The Post since 2005.

Nick Anderson

Common App expands ‘direct admissions’ program to 70 colleges

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