With just a few clicks, applying to colleges in Texas just got a lot easier. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board launched the Direct Admissions resource on Oct. 11, and Texas high school seniors now have a shortcut to college acceptance.

Students can use the new tool as a part of My Texas Future to see which colleges, of the 31 currently participating, will accept them prior to applying. Texas released this resource using the $250,000 grant THEBC received from the Lumina Foundation’s The Great Admissions Redesign competition on March 22. 

The competition is part of an initiative to make college more accessible and feasible for families, including minorities or ones with a financial need. This is one of the ways the Lumina Foundation intends to achieve its goal of increasing access to higher education to create a more skilled workforce.

To utilize the tool, seniors must enter their class rank, GPA and SAT and/or ACT test scores. If a student qualifies for direct admissions for a school, they still must submit an application for that school through CommonApp or Apply Texas for acceptance and scholarship qualifications.

Coppell High School lead counselor Ann Cinelli said Direct Admissions offers many benefits, especially for those who might not have been considering colleges.

“I don’t want a student to feel like they can’t attend college because of their grades or mess ups in high school,” Cinelli said. “Going into this low risk portal where students can enter their statistics and see if they would get in gives them confidence.” 

Senior Sai Kasiraman experiences many benefits from using Direct Admission, gaining confidence about the application process.

“The college application process is universally nerve-racking,” Kasiraman said. “Direct Admissions makes me feel a lot more confident about my chances of getting into college. Knowing there are colleges I can get into immediately just from my academic standing and test scores relieves some of the stress from the whole process.”

First generation Texas Woman’s University senior and ambassador Karen Diaz did not have this resource when applying four years ago. THEBC hopes that the addition can help students like her throughout their college application journey.

“Having that extra guide to navigate through college applications would have been so helpful,” Diaz said. “As a first generation student, I didn’t know what was out there, so any opportunity that helps us first generation applicants prepare can make us more well-versed about the whole application process and be more competitive applicants.”

In addition to assisting students, the platform provides benefits for colleges, since they can gain more traction as the platform grows.

“I hope it has an impact on enrollment at some schools where enrollment is a little bit low,” Cinelli said. “Colleges need students to attend so they can earn money and stay afloat.”

Because the resource is recent and only includes a portion of the colleges in Texas, it may seem unappealing for some students. However, it can provide hidden benefits.

“The challenge students will have is not seeing the brand name school on there that they want to,” Cinelli said. “A lot of times, they get so caught up in the bigger-named schools that they forget they might need a safety school, and this program gives students safety schools without a doubt.”

Many colleges are shifting towards a holistic review of applications. However, Direct Admissions focuses on the quantitative side of students’ profiles.

“I feel like both holistic reviews and Direct Admissions are needed in today’s educational world,” Kasiraman said.“I appreciate the ability of direct admissions to provide safety schools for people who feel unsure about applying in the first place.”

CHS senior Raihann Girish would like to see the resource expand beyond larger state universities. 

“It could be improved by having more options to explore the subjects students want to major in, adding a trade school or a community college section and including private schools,” Girish said.

Follow Deepali Kanchanavally (@deepali0914) and @CHSCampusNews on X.