Inside a Direct Admissions Breakthrough in Alabama

0:00:12.5 Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to Office Hours with EAB. Today we’re excited to talk to two people on the front lines of a bold initiative in Alabama that’s flipping the admissions process on its head. You’ll hear from those tasked with selling the transformative idea to university leadership and admissions teams and getting the governor’s office on board. You’ll also hear how it’s changing the lives of young people and boosting enrollment. So give these folks a listen and enjoy.

0:00:46.6 Bridget Bowers: Hello and welcome to Office Hours with EAB. My name is Bridget Bowers. I’m the associate director of Partner Success here at EAB. What that means is my job in a nutshell is to help university leaders implement enrollment best practices to improve student recruitment and impact. Today, we are diving into the bold multi-year initiative that’s reshaping how students in Alabama access college opportunities. Across the country, we’ve seen an increase in conversation that the application process is really not as transparent or accessible as it could be, especially for students who may be the first in their family to go to college. In 2025, Alabama expanded a statewide initiative designed to address this issue head-on. So, in partnership with EAB’s Match direct admissions platform and a coalition of state agencies, Alabama Possible, which is a nonprofit focused on expanding educational opportunity and economic mobility, launched the Alabama Direct Admissions Initiative. This program is meant to proactively connect high school seniors with Alabama colleges, providing them offers of admission and scholarship opportunities without ever requiring them to apply. The results have been remarkable so far.

0:02:14.9 Bridget Bowers: Since the initiative launched in October, over 210,000 offers of admission and $6.9 billion in student scholarships have been awarded to Alabama students, expanding opportunities and opening doors to programs students never imagined might be within reach. So here to unpack the vision, the experiences, the challenges, and the impact of this work are two leaders in the state who are bringing valuable perspectives on what it has taken to get this initiative up and running and how it’s working for one of the 39 Alabama colleges that signed on to the program. First up is Chandra Scott, executive director of Alabama Possible. Chandra, I know one of the overarching goals at Alabama Possible is improving economic mobility for students. Would you mind sharing a little bit about your goals and why it made sense to bring in a technology partner like Match to help you accomplish them?

0:03:15.7 Chandra Scott: Well, first, Bridget, thank you so much for this conversation and elevating our Alabama Direct Admissions Initiative. So Alabama Possible was founded in 1993 with this core mission of removing barriers to prosperity. And of course, we do that through advocacy, education, and collab [0:03:30.0] [Inaudible]. But one of the main reasons we do that is because our state is the seventh poorest state in the nation. And there is a direct correlation between postsecondary attainment and those who live in poverty. And so it is our goal to make sure that any Alabamian, every Alabamian in our state has access to a postsecondary education pathway, but without sacrificing their financial futures. And in doing that, in our years of working with high schools, working with other postsecondary access organizations, we hear how the postsecondary access journey is marked with various barriers. Whether you’re talking about having to get writing the essays, having the understanding of the application, especially for first-generation students, and so just wanting to remove as many barriers as possible for students to be able to access a postsecondary journey. Technology is usually the answer. And of course, at Alabama Possible, we didn’t know what that technology looked like until we were introduced to EAB.

0:04:37.2 Chandra Scott: And so knowing that you all had a platform that really removed that not only the process of doing the application, but also the financial aspect where you took away the cost of application fees for students in our state, being the seventh poorest state in the nation, a $25, $30, $50 application fee, some as high as $100, $150, it’s the difference between the students and a family saying, yes, we can do this, or no, we can’t, because we have bills, medical bills, prescriptions, groceries that we have to put first. And so being able to tap into a technology that removes all of those barriers, and to be honest, what it has done is shift the narrative in our state that now families who could no longer even afford the conversation of a postsecondary journey for their child, they’re now having those conversations. And that’s what’s so exciting, how technology really did bridge a gap in our state around postsecondary access.

0:05:39.9 Bridget Bowers: Thank you so much, Chandra. It’s exciting to hear about kind of that shift in narrative and looking forward to diving a little bit more into it. Next up is Audrey Crawford, who’s the executive director of admissions at the University of Montevallo. Audrey, would you mind telling us a little bit about your institution and why you took this leap of faith alongside Chandra and other Alabama institutions?

0:06:01.5 Audrey Crawford: Sure. Thanks, Bridget. I’m really excited to be here for us to talk about this really important next step in the college admission process. And I think that it is really exciting that the state of Alabama, who sort of gets a bad rap for being, as Chandra pointed out, the poorest, one of the poorest states in the country and pretty low on the totem pole with education and outcomes there, it’s exciting that we are sort of at the forefront of this initiative for direct admission for our high school seniors. So I’m excited to be just a really small part of that. The University of Montevallo, the institution where I work, is a public liberal arts university with around 3,000 students. And we are located about 30 miles south of Birmingham in the dead center of the state of Alabama. We serve a lot of students across Alabama. That’s our primary market. We have a lot of first-generation students. So when we think about access and sort of that complicated process, that’s the population that we are serving. And so when a process feels overwhelming and intimidating, sometimes that’s where students just give up, right?

0:07:15.2 Audrey Crawford: And so this initiative really, it was an easy yes for us as a university in the state of Alabama. It breaks down barriers, it makes the process easy for students. When we can flip that script and take it from where we’re seeking applications, so we flip it and we just say, you’re accepted. Here’s your scholarship offer. That’s really powerful and exciting for me as someone who’s worked in enrollment for almost two decades. When the conversation started about direct admissions through Match and Alabama Possible, it was almost a relief for our institution because we had been looking at other potential direct admission partnerships, and there really just was not one that was a good fit for our institution. And so it just felt like the way that we structured this, the way that we were going to be able to target students in Alabama, it was just a perfect fit. And the timing was really great as well, because again, we were looking for some sort of partner in doing direct admission for high school seniors. I think ultimately, we talk about access and we talk about opportunity, and it’s really easy to say that we’re going to do those things, but I think when it comes to having an initiative or a partnership that actually makes good on that promise, I think that we have to be willing sometimes to try things differently in higher education.

0:08:47.4 Audrey Crawford: And this was that opportunity for us to do that. This was the moment for us to make good on those things that we say that we do.

0:08:56.7 Bridget Bowers: Thank you, Audrey. And we’re so glad that you were willing to kind of jump on board because I think it is so important to look at doing things differently. We have different student populations with different needs. Families are looking at college differently. So having you on board has been really fantastic. Shifting a little bit to the beginning of the initiative. Chandra, can you tell us a little bit more about it? How did it work? How did you get the governor’s office on board? And what were your early meetings like with the Match team to kind of work on expanding impact?

0:09:30.4 Chandra Scott: Yeah. So first I want to begin, Bridget, in sharing how this really became part of a campaign that we already lead across the state known as the Alabama Goes to College campaign. This campaign has been in partnership between Alabama Possible, the Alabama State Department of Education, and even our two and four-year college institutions as well. And through this campaign there’s three components. So the first one really is about removing that financial barrier through our Cash for College project. And so this is really what I would call pushing FAFSA. So we want to make sure that students remove that financial barrier and understanding that yes, college costs, but there are ways to lower that cost or have no cost at all. And so that’s the first component. The second component consists of our Alabama College Application Week, which happens to be to start and kick it off today during this podcast. So this is the week of Alabama College Application Week where we have colleges in and out of the state waive their application fee for this week so students can have removed that financial barrier of the application fees to broaden their prospects of colleges as they seek a postsecondary journey.

0:10:41.8 Chandra Scott: And then the third component is like we don’t want students going through this process without being celebrated. We’re in Alabama, we’re a football state, and so we love celebrating our athletes, but we want to make sure that we celebrate every student who chooses a postsecondary pathway. And so that is the third component of College and Career Decision Day. It’s the third component of the campaign. So then we look at across all three and we realize there is a huge piece missing. And that is removing the true essence of the concern, the headaches that students feel like they have to undergo to do a college application. And that’s where the Alabama Direct Admission became really a central piece of this campaign, and it just streamlined right into it. It didn’t have to feel like a separate entity of the bodies of work that we lead. And a lot of people always ask us, how in the world did you get the governor to help you launch such a huge initiative? And I have to say that was probably the easiest part of the campaign because she directly saw the correlation between them wanting to fulfill their workforce pipeline, wanting to increase their labor participation rate, increase the number of Alabamians who have been upskilled and credentialed to take advantage of our high-wage, high-demand jobs.

0:11:22.3 Chandra Scott: We have major industry sectors in our state, and so we want to make sure that people are qualified for those. So for their office, it was an easy yes because she saw this directly being connected to, if we get more students saying yes, or colleges saying yes to students, then we have more students that are coming in that are getting credentialed and upskilled, ready for this workforce pipeline. And to be honest, at the state level, they want to limit brain drain, and this is a way as a strategy into doing that.

0:12:36.0 Chandra Scott: Then the next question you asked about, you know, what was… Like as they say, sometimes you don’t want to see how the sausage is made. And so I have to say this was one process that you did want to see being made. It was really a beautiful process to see how truly important collaboration is and how trust building really is a factor in this type of initiative. And being able to work with, you mentioned 39 colleges, right? So that meant 39 leadership teams that had to be met with, that had to share the information about what this platform is, what it can do, how they may have to shift their processes on their campus to be able to respond to what’s possible to come out of this. And so I have to say our team did an amazing job of setting up all of those meetings, meeting with all of those leadership teams. And to my surprise, I have to say that most institutions got to a yes in one call. There were only a handful that took a follow-up call or a follow-up email. But they quickly saw the benefit of having more students looking at them, seeing them, being visible before students that may not have even thought to even take on this journey.

0:13:55.5 Chandra Scott: And I have to be very transparent here. So it’s not only that they were going through a process, so was Alabama Possible. And so we were trying to figure out, how do we measure the success of this? What is our goal? We are a data-led organization, and so everything has to be decided on what are our desired outcomes, when do we know we’ve won or have not and we have an opportunity for improvement. And so we set a goal that if we get 5,000 students for the year to do a profile and to be a part of this platform, that was going to be a win for us. This is one time I have to say I am so excited to be wrong, that I set the bar too low and that students really showed me differently, that they are excited about this. Counselors and career coaches, I cannot give them enough credit about the work that they did to make sure students had access and time to do their Match profile, time to be able to access the resources they needed and getting their transcripts uploaded. I mean, I cannot speak highly enough of how our high school districts across our state gave a resounding yes that they were putting students first and making sure they had access to a postsecondary journey, no matter their zip code.

0:15:14.3 Chandra Scott: And I think that’s what’s so important about this platform. It truly takes away any barrier that any student may be facing. It doesn’t matter their socioeconomic status. This platform will open doors for them to colleges saying yes and saying that you belong when they never thought that any college would say yes to them and tell them that they belong. And that’s what’s been so exciting for me about this process and about this journey, and that we’re being able to expand our Alabama Goes to College campaign and include Alabama Direct Admission. And seeing the numbers you already shared, you know, the number 210,000 offers, 6.9 billion… Let me say it again. 6.9 billion in potential scholarship offers. You cannot put enough exclamation marks on that because that tells us that students are finding a way to pay for a pathway that they didn’t think was going to be their own. And so that’s just what’s so exciting about this and seeing how this initiative is truly, truly changing the narrative in our state and shifting us to really being a college-ready and a college-going culture.

0:16:25.3 Bridget Bowers: Thank you, Chandra. It’s so exciting to hear, and I think just underlining the putting students first, right? Everybody in this initiative, that was the main goal, and that was the kind of way that everyone collaborated. That was the mission, and it’s very clear in the work that you all have done. Audrey, I know you said it was an easy yes, but I’m sure you had some reservations about diverting staff time and resources to this effort. How was the initiative rolled out for you all, and what were some of the toughest obstacles you faced as your team adapted to this new process?

0:17:00.1 Audrey Crawford: Yes, so it was an easy yes, but I did know that there would need to be some lifting, especially on the front end, to get things off the ground. And so I knew that there would need to be campus buy-in. That was pretty easy though, too, honestly. I think everyone on campus saw this as more of an opportunity, not a burden. And so it was easy to get people from the different departments that needed to be a part of the conversation on board. And so we had our IS&T office that was really great, president’s cabinet, all of our campus leadership. They understand the importance, especially with the enrollment cliff. Universities are going, there are fewer and fewer 18-year-olds going to college that are college age. And so what are those pipelines for new students and for new opportunities for enrolling students? And so they see this as one of those opportunities. And so getting them on board was really pretty easy. And we were really intentional about the rollout that we did. The toughest obstacle, I would say there were a couple of things, nothing that was really insurmountable, but the first would be just setting up process alignment, making sure that things moved like they needed to from the Match platform into our Slate CRM, and then making sure that the communication piece was right.

0:18:24.1 Audrey Crawford: It was really important from the beginning to make sure that when students had that direct admission offer, that it didn’t seem like once that offer was made that they still had to apply for admission. So making sure they understood that when that offer was made, they were a fully admitted student. And from the time they accept that offer on the Match platform, that they flow directly into an admitted student communication flow. And so that was really important on the front end with getting things set up. And then there were a couple of missing pieces of information from the Match profile, and you guys made that really easy from a technical standpoint to ask those few additional questions so that we had all of the data points that we needed to flow into our CRM. But so those were just some of the heavy lifts on the front end. But again, they were fairly easy. We were intentional and made sure we were very thorough in that process for setting it up the right way from the beginning. And then I would say shifting to looking at the actual launch, so I can still remember the day that we launched and you guys rolled those decisions out in October.

0:19:36.5 Audrey Crawford: That was actually Free Application Week for the fall semester. So that was a really, really busy week for everyone. But the biggest thing there that I wasn’t anticipating anyway was how many students immediately started accepting those offers through the platform. And so every time you get a student that accepts an offer, I get an email. And so my inbox had hundreds of emails on that day and really that entire week. And so that was a little bit challenging and overwhelming for our staff. But what we did from a personnel standpoint is we said, okay, lots of volume here. We’re hand-checking each application to make sure that it’s coming into our system like it needs to. Wanted to make sure nobody was missing, the technical pieces were working like they needed to. And so with us hand-checking each application as they accepted, that was a big drain of personnel time during that week. But we split those applications up and sort of did a divide and conquer, and it was an all-hands-on-deck type of week. And in the best type of way, though. I think that having all those applications come in just was exciting to see that students were, number one, they were using the platform.

0:20:58.2 Audrey Crawford: Because we didn’t really know at the time how many students had completed a profile. We didn’t know how many were going to accept. And so that was really exciting to sort of see all the fruits of your labor sort of coming to fruition. So yeah, that was really sort of what our experience has been to this point.

0:21:20.3 Bridget Bowers: Thank you for sharing. I love just the focus on the attention to detail with the communications and making sure that students are getting specific messaging, and just kind of that, like you said, the divide and conquer approach. I remember hearing from institutions that week about the emails and asking if notifications could be suppressed or that type of thing. But overwhelmingly, it was a very positive challenge to have. I mean, I think it’s exciting to see the student and counselor buy-in there. I know you had mentioned the enrollment cliff earlier, but how are you measuring success for the direct admissions efforts, especially given this just launched in October? How are you seeing that from a yield perspective?

0:22:01.1 Audrey Crawford: Yes. So we really didn’t make any specific goals for this initiative going into the first year because we didn’t know what to expect. And so success for us will ultimately be how many students matriculate, how many additional students have enrolled at the university when we get to August. So far, we’ve had just a little over 2,000 students accept their offer through the Match platform. And as of this morning, we’ve had 11 students pay an enrollment deposit indicating their intent to enroll at the university. And so that’s exciting for me to see the deposits coming in. That’s right now the metric we sort of look at until we get to August and get to summer orientations and all of those types of things. So I think the fact that we’ve got double-digit students already telling us they’re coming, that’s exciting. So whatever happens this year as far as how many students actually enroll, that will help inform, we’ll have goals obviously going into the fall 2027 group based on how this year’s group performs. So so far, just kinda looking at those deposits and seeing where we might land in August with new student matriculation.

0:23:16.8 Bridget Bowers: That is super exciting.

0:23:18.2 Audrey Crawford: Thank you.

0:23:19.8 Bridget Bowers: Chandra, I’m curious what you’re hearing from counselors and students that is kind of giving you confidence that this is the right path and that it’s having the impact that you hoped it would.

0:23:29.1 Chandra Scott: I have to say, when first hearing Audrey’s numbers, it’s just amazing and just gets me so excited about the process. And it mirrors what I’ve been hearing from high schools already. So I have to say, she talked about the week of October when the first offers were sent out. I cannot tell you how many text messages I received that day. But the best one I have, one of the best ones I received was from a district leader who text me and said, I just happened to be in the high school building today doing some observations and evaluations and did not know what was going on. Students were in the hall crying, they were hugging each other. And she was like… I was like, what’s happening? And she asked the student, are you okay? What’s going on? And the student said, I’m going to college. I just got a college offer. And so that’s when she quickly realized, oh, I’m in school today that students are receiving their offers from Alabama direct admission. And she text me, she said, I wish you could be in this building with me to see how many students in real time are receiving their offers in tears in the hall, screaming, laughing, running to their friends, showing their emails to them, just super excited about I received my first college offer.

0:24:48.9 Chandra Scott: And the beauty of it, she happened to be in a school that day that’s considered a high-poverty school, and 100% of their students had done a Match profile. So that was just amazing within itself. And I love to share the story of one student that she got a chance to talk to, she was just in awe to be in the moment and feeling these real-time reactions from these students and their emotions. And she came across this one student that just wouldn’t stop crying. And she just had to ask her like, just tell me what you’re feeling, what’s going on? And she was like… Told her that, I was just gonna get my CNA and I was gonna be fine and I had a path, but I had no idea that any college would say yes to me, that I can consider being an RN. And that was a moment when this student said, I thought I was college material, but now I know I am. That was life-changing for that student. And to hear that story, and she’s just one of the many stories that I’ve heard.

0:25:55.8 Chandra Scott: About two weeks ago, I was a speaker at the Mobile County Public School System, which is the largest school district in our state. They were having their winter professional development day on the campus of University of South Alabama. So I go there to just do my part, share data, share resources. All the counselors of the district were there. Making sure they knew what was available to them and shared their direct admission numbers so everyone could cheer on those schools. And actually got a chance to award one of the counselors there for having the most number of students participating, the highest number of scholarship offers. Just really wanted to elevate her. And it was such a celebratory moment. And it was really nice to see her peers support her and cheer for her. And they were even more excited to know that this was happening because remember, this is all counselors from elementary all through high school that were in the room. So a lot of the younger… Have to say counselors of younger students had no idea that some of this was happening. And so they were super excited to hear that this was something that their students could look forward to.

0:27:04.8 Chandra Scott: But I will have to say, I thought I was there to celebrate them. And I’m getting ready to leave and they tell me no, not to leave yet. And turns out they wanted to celebrate Alabama Possible for making this possible for so many students. They shared that so many lives had been changed. And I think the number they said they know for sure, 3,000 students they’ve been able to capture they know did not have any pathway or any plan for after high school whose lives have been changed. And they know this is a direct reason why. And they wanted to make sure that they not only elevated but celebrated Alabama direct admission and Alabama Possible for making this a thing in the state and making this a reality for so many students and families. But what I will say that we talk about success, we want to measure it, but I also tell people we have to take a pause. That this is really about shifting narratives and shifting mindsets. That’s the data points we’re gathering right now. We will truly understand, like Audrey shared, the success of this in August, when we see how many students actually show up on campuses ready to go on their first day of their postsecondary journey.

0:27:50.2 Chandra Scott: And that’s when we will truly be able to share the success of this initiative. But I have to say right now, I am just enjoying all of the stories that we have been able to gather from students. Having the first student receive the $5,000 scholarship award for having their Match profile done, and we’re getting ready to feature her soon. And so just seeing so many students’ lives change, so many families realize that this is truly real and it’s possible for their families. And let’s be honest, this is probably gonna break generational poverty in some of these families. And that’s the part that’s so exciting for me because I look forward to the day that I’m no longer saying that we’re one of the poorest states in the nation. And I think this is gonna be a direct correlation to that when we’re no longer able to say that.

0:29:09.8 Bridget Bowers: Chandra, wow, that’s just such an exciting picture and such powerful stories. I think all of us in education can imagine just the palpable excitement in that school hallway and how that was happening statewide and will hopefully continue to happen to really help with that economic mobility and expanding access for students in Alabama. So I know that we’ve really only scratched the surface of what you have learned, and I know this is a multi-year initiative, but I’d love to ask each of you to share one of the most important lessons that you’ve learned so far and maybe a little advice for another state or university leaders who might be thinking about taking a similar bold step forward. Audrey, if you don’t mind, we can start with you.

0:30:00.2 Audrey Crawford: Sure. I think that sometimes it’s easy to, when there’s an exciting new initiative like this, it sometimes gives people pause, like we talked about earlier. But I think my advice for if there are other state leaders or university leaders that are considering this, my advice would be to just do it. Take that leap of faith. I think the worst that it can do is it doesn’t work. But what if it does work, right? What if it does? And I think we’re seeing that here, and I think anyone that signed on for this first year, any one of the 39 institutions, probably would echo what I’m saying in that I think that it’s going to be successful. It’s going to provide so many great opportunities for our students. At the end of the day, I think remembering the why of what we do. Why are we here? Why are we in education? It is to provide access and opportunity for the students of our state. And I do think that because we are investing in our students, like Chandra said, that it’s investing in our entire state and its advancement and betterment. And so I think that just do it is really my advice at the end of the day.

0:31:15.8 Bridget Bowers: Fantastic advice. I think that why centering is so important because it really is allowing students to have those opportunities and it’s removing those barriers that exist naturally. And also, I think students can make barriers for themselves, right? They can take themselves out of the running because they’re told, this isn’t a fit for you. But this initiative is proactively reaching out to them saying, no, it is. And so that’s really neat to see and telling students, you’re wanted, you’re celebrated, and this is a fantastic step forward for you. Chandra, how about you?

0:31:54.3 Chandra Scott: I would say first, yes to all things Audrey just said. And then collaboration works. And you don’t have to feel like you’re doing this alone, right? And that’s what I think the beauty of this, that anyone who’s considering a direct admission initiative, that you are not alone in the process. Form a collaboration that everyone has a role, everyone has a part to play to make sure it’s a great success. And part of that success is just being transparent and authentic. Making sure that you’re student-centered in the process. And while you’re being student-centered, making sure that you’re understanding the processes that you need to put in place. I think Audrey shared earlier how you just had no idea you’d have so many emails coming to your inbox. And that’s a wonderful feeling because that’s a lot of students saying yes to your institution. And so I just want to say that collaboration is important in this process. And so any state, any college that’s looking to lift this in their state, again, like Audrey said, just do it. Take the leap of faith. It’s for students. And for so long, we’ve asked students to be college-ready. This is your opportunity to tell students that your college is student-ready.

0:33:10.8 Bridget Bowers: That’s a fantastic piece of advice and just takeaway. The collaboration is so important. I think in higher education sometimes we can be a little siloed in what we’re doing. And so having organizations like Alabama Possible bring different groups together and say, let’s be boots on the ground, having students be the focus of what we’re doing, I think is so exciting. So thank you again to both of you. We know multi-year initiatives can take some time, like we’ve talked about, to have that measurable impact. We’re gonna be looking at August to see how students are ending up. We’ll continue following these students and their journeys. We would love, if you’d be willing, if you come back in the fall to give us another update so we can see how the initiative’s panning out for those students that are enrolling.

0:33:57.6 Audrey Crawford: Yes, I would be happy to come back. I’m hoping that I can come back in the fall and say that we had 100 students enroll in our freshman class this fall. But yes, I would certainly look forward to following up on our conversation and see what’s happened across the state, not just for our institution, but across the state and how we can be better moving forward.

0:34:22.2 Chandra Scott: And same here. Bridget, again, thank you for elevating the Alabama Direct Admission initiative. I mean, it’s just been a wonderful process to date and I cannot wait to come back and share with you how our state has performed as a whole on this and how many students actually showed up in August ready to go on their postsecondary journey.

0:34:41.7 Bridget Bowers: Well, thank you. The thanks truly lies with both of you and the incredible work you do. If anyone’s interested, we will share links in the episode notes where you can learn more about the Alabama Goes to College campaign as well as EAB’s Match platform, which powers direct admissions initiatives like the one in Alabama and for our college partners nationwide. So thank you both again and until next time, thank you for listening.