High school students can start building their college applications as early as their ninth-grade year with a new system developed by the University of Minnesota and other schools.

 

The tool is the brainchild of the Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success, a two-year-old group of more than 80 schools around the country that includes the University.

Admissions staff members say the online tool — which will go live this summer for students applying for fall 2017 admissions — will make applying to colleges easier.

 

The program allows students to compile grades, awards, photos and videos electronically and send college applications.

 

“They can capture this information along the way. It’s already there for them,” said Rachelle Hernandez, associate vice provost for enrollment management and director of admissions at the University. “They’ve saved information that they feel is important to them. It’s to help reduce that anxiety around senior year.”

 

She said the website will make it easier for students to submit multiple applications at one time to different schools. 

 

Hernandez has helped work on the application tool for the past two years with schools like Harvard University and Michigan State University.

 

The program was created to assist students, especially those who may not have outside help from resources like career centers, Hernandez said.

 

“Not every student has access to resources or someone who can assist them along the way,” Hernandez said.

 

Jennifer Hantho, senior associate dean of admissions at Carleton College — a Northfield, Minn., school involved in the coalition — said she feels it’s good to have an additional application option for students, but she said the new platform is not necessarily better than the traditional type of application.