无须申请即可入学 美国数百大学打破传统“直接录取”学生

2026年9月5日 23:00 / 联合早报

Direct admissions platform Niche says the average user can get more than $17,000 (about S$21,540) in scholarships per year, and students can still apply for other financial aid separately. (Reuters)

(New York) As the number of college-age students declines and competition for enrollment grows increasingly fierce, hundreds of U.S. universities are starting to break with traditional college admissions mechanisms and actively send admission notices to high school students who have not submitted applications. This “direct admission” system greatly simplifies the enrollment process, marking that the competition for student recruitment by American institutions of higher learning has entered a white-hot stage.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the direct admission system usually decides whether to admit students based on a few basic conditions such as their high school transcripts. Students do not need to pay application fees, write admission essays, fill out extracurricular activity resumes or take standardized entrance exams. They only need to fill out a simple form on a designated online platform and submit their transcripts, and may automatically receive admission notices from multiple universities.

Tony Perez, CEO of the American Association of College Admissions Counseling, said this new model is equivalent to universities “applying” to students, allowing students to avoid crossing numerous thresholds.

Currently, the direct admission system is mainly adopted by less well-known private universities facing enrollment pressure. On the Common App, the largest university application platform in the United States, the number of participating institutions has more than tripled since the 2023/2024 academic year, accounting for about one-fifth of the platform’s partner institutions. In addition, more than 10 states across the country have launched official direct admission plans coordinated by the state government.

Supporters of this practice point out that according to a 2023 research report, the average acceptance rate of U.S. non-profit four-year universities has actually exceeded 70%. The direct admission system not only helps institutions reach potential students who originally had no knowledge of them, but also allows high school students to feel the positive affirmation of “being admitted” in advance, effectively alleviating college admission anxiety caused by fear of rejection.

Critics argue that a large number of unsolicited admission notices could complicate an already complex admissions process, and that receiving an admission offer does not mean students can afford the high tuition fees.

To this end, Alabama state has stipulated that universities participating in the direct admission system must clearly list all tuition fees and related expenses in the first admission letter.

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