TEMPE, Ariz. — People looking to attend college in Arizona will face a unique application process as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
Both Arizona State University and University of Arizona confirmed changes to their admissions processes for the fall 2021 school year because of COVID-19.
Prospective students use Zoom to chat with recruiters, faculty, other students
High school seniors have experienced some of the biggest changes when looking for colleges to attend.
Traditional, larger in-person recruiting events turned virtual, there are more online access to campus tours along with recruiters and both ASU and UArizona said they're analyzing students as more of a whole for acceptance into some of their more selective programs.
Kasey Urquidez, the vice president of enrollment management at UArizona, said the Honors College is looking at multiple qualifications that students bring to the table.
"Our Honors College decided they would review all of those applicants holistically and not use test scores," Urquidez said.
ASU's Vice President of Enrollment Services Matt Lopez confirmed a similar process for prospective Sun Devils.
"Barrett, the Honors College, chose to not look at test scores," he said. "They did test blind process."
Along with admissions changes, there's still a big push to recruit students. While both ASU and UArizona say enrollment has increased overall, both universities also report a drop in some Arizona resident applications.
"School counselors, they've been working so hard and they've been trying so hard, but students are just tired," Urquidez said. "Being able to think about where they're going to go in their future has been derailed this year."
There are however some positive signs with more Arizona students back in the classroom.
"Now that all high schools are in person or at least have that option, we continue to see that maybe some of the students that were most disrupted are actually now starting to take those next steps," Lopez said.
There's still time to apply at Arizona universities and both colleges encourage prospective students reach out to talk about their futures.
