The King’s College Eliminates Application Fee to Open Doors for Prospective Students
Assistant VP of Admissions Noah Hunter says that eliminating the fee is designed to make King’s more accessible to a wider range of students, as acceptance standards remain the same.
The King’s College’s application for Fall 2020 opened this summer, and this year, there’s no fee to apply. In the past, the College charged a $35 dollar application fee.
Why the shift? It’s not for lack of applications: in the last enrollment period, the number of applications to King’s reached a record high. At the same time, the Fall 2019 class is among the most talented in the country, with an average 3.77 high school GPA and 26 ACT, placing them in the 82nd percentile of all students taking the ACT.
This new direction, says Assistant Vice President of Admissions Noah Hunter, is designed to make King’s more accessible to a wider range of students. “A $35 fee could discourage some families from going through the Admissions process. We want to be accessible to all types of students, regardless of their family’s financial background.”
Hunter sees eliminating the fee as a way to stay in step with the most recent trends in higher education. At King’s, Pell Grant recipients—students with significant financial need—make up almost a quarter of the student body, and for around ten percent of King’s students, neither of their parents went to college. First-generation college students, minority students, and students from low-income families are going to college at higher rates, even as overall college enrollment in America is dropping.
As student body demographics at King’s have shifted, the College has bolstered its academic resources to ensure that students thrive once they arrive on campus. The Office of Student Success, directed by Dr. Jennifer Tharp, was formed in 2014. Tharp and her team provide course tutoring, individual academic coaching, cohort-based academic advising, and a course for first-year students to support their transition to college. Student retention is now at 78% (compared to the 73% average retention within the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities).
Although the College is moving to a no-fee application, acceptance standards remain unchanged, and Hunter emphasizes that it takes a certain kind of student to thrive at King’s:
If you’re a student with exceptional grades in high school, you know you can succeed in a classroom, but can you succeed in a classroom in New York City? To be a King’s student, you have to be well-rounded; the things you want out of your education have to be a little more ambitious and rigorous. We’re a faith-based institution, and you have to either want that, or at least see value in it.
Hunter says that submitting an application is the best way for students to determine if King’s is a fit for them. Once they’ve applied, students can see what financial aid is available and begin connecting with an Admissions counselor.
So the free application is meant to help “Kingsian” high school students everywhere take the time to consider the College. Hunter says, “We want as many students as possible to have a meaningful conversation with us.”