2 November 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Kansas’s first Apply Free Days will be Nov. 7-9. Kansas residents can apply to undergraduate programs for free during this period. It includes independent nonprofit universities but doesn’t include for-profit private universities.
Kansas Board of Regents President Blake Flanders says he expects people who have been deterred from college to explore it.
“It might be a technical college into a welding program or a machine program, it might be community college, and it might be a university,” Flanders said. “We’re hopeful that any Kansan, and any Kansas family that maybe wasn’t considering higher education, will take a closer look during this time period.”
Flanders says college enrollment has decreased nationally. Although enrollment across the system in Kansas was up 2% this year, the state has seen a 10% decline over the last decade.
KBOR recently did a survey to determine what the jobs are until 2030. It found that 34,000 jobs that need to be filled require a post-secondary education, and 80% of new jobs require at least a bachelor’s degree.
Application fees go to the individual schools.
“Typically, those go to support individuals within the admissions department,” Flanders said. “Our universities have looked to see how they could reposition internal resources to support this initiative.”
The KBOR will evaluate how Apply Free Days goes and then decide whether to continue it.
At Wichita State University, Bobby Gandu, the director of admissions, says they waive application fees for low-income students, but this opens the door for everyone, regardless of income. Each year, they have waived over $100,000 in fees for low-income students. The application fee at WSU is $40.
Gandu hopes that this will encourage students who weren’t considering higher education to give it a shot.
“My hope is that when they arrive to the Wichita State application, they’ll see that we actually don’t require essays. We don’t require recommendation letters,” Gandu said. “Our process is very fluid. It takes less than 15 minutes for most students to complete and submit their application. And now they won’t even have to worry about submitting that application fee.”
This also allows students to expand their search.
“Might open the door for them to apply to multiple universities in Kansas as opposed to in the past, they may have only selected one or two,” Gandu said.
Removing the application fee gives students access to take the first step.
“Once a student is admitted to Wichita State, then that unlocks the gateway to additional scholarship opportunities, more targeted communication that might meet their needs and help them understand how Wichita State education could really help propel them further in their career,” Gandu said.
Students can start and save their application at any time, but they must submit it on Nov. 7-9.
The initiative works for Kansas residents regardless of age and income. It includes transfer students, returning students, and applicants wanting a second undergraduate degree.