Successes from Northeast Texas’ College Access Program Launch

At the beginning of last month, Texas ESC Region 8 (Texarkana area) launched their first-ever Virtual College Access Week. For two weeks, high school students and their parents from 44 high schools were able to learn about the college admissions process from admissions representatives at 34 colleges and universities. 

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Through the college access program, college admissions reps were able to chat with prospective students, schedule 1:1 meetings, post videos, create a detailed profile about their institution, and host live Q&A sessions.

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76.5% of the institutions who participated were located outside of Texas. This gave students access to colleges that they might not have heard of or been able to easily visit. Some of these schools included DigiPen Institute of Technology in Washington, Humboldt State University in California, and University College of Dublin. 

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There was also a programming schedule for each day that included various college process topics to help structure the two weeks. Preview the schedule below. Colleges and universities were then able to host related live sessions or post on-demand videos and resources on the topics. Throughout the program launch, there were over 64 live sessions that students could attend at various times. This gave students, parents, and the college reps more flexibility to attend and schedule sessions at times that worked for them. 

• March 1: Kick-Off (General Information)
• March 2: Selecting the Right University
• March 3: Admissions Workshops
• March 4: Financial Aid, Scholarships & Deposits
• March 5 and 6: Weekend (General Information)
• March 7: Virtual Campus Tours
• March 8: Campus Life
• March 9: Clubs & Organizations
• March 10: Final Day (General Information)

Students and their parents had access to the VisitDays platform in advance of the college access program kickoff and could log on to the mobile-friendly homepage at any time that worked for their schedules–after school and work, on the weekend, before school, etc. As a result, colleges and universities were able to capture engaged prospective student leads even when they weren’t at their computers! So far there have been over 678 different interactions on the platform which includes video views, profile favorites, chats, meetings scheduled, and more. 

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In fact, it’s worth highlighting that one student took 80 actions throughout their time on the platform! They watched videos, downloaded resources, and chatted with 22 different institutions! This would have been nearly impossible at a traditional in-person college fair that lasts only a couple of hours. 

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While the kick-off programming lasted two weeks, ESC Region 8 will continue to host various events and programs through the year. If you’re interested in meeting prospective students from this region, please use this link to sign up and get more information. 

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If you’re interested in learning more about VisitDays’ other partnerships with regions and K12 organizations in the US and abroad, please follow this link to explore our Marketplace. 

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